Escape from memory
by MelB21
Summary: Theo goes digging around for information in Stiles mind. But again, he doesn't do it correctly and stiles is left comatose, trapped within his own head. Scott and Lydia once again have to enter his mind and bring him through his own subconscious, which has trapped him reliving the worst moments of his life. Will they be able to reach through the fog of his mind to get him back?
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Theo tossed Stiles onto the ground like a piece of trash. Even with his sprained ankle and tied hands, Stiles couldn't help but run his mouth. "Everything you tried to do, it was all for nothing Theo. Scott's still alive, Lydia is stronger than before you crippled her, and despite how hard you tried to break us apart, the pack is reunited and stronger than ever. Your Chimeras are gone. There's not even a point in taking me. The nogitsune is gone, I'm useless to you. Scott can find me by my scent, and you better believe they'll be coming for me."

Theo gave off a creepy grin that always made Stiles want to punch him in his stupidly white teeth. "Oh I'm well aware they'll be coming for you. And they can have you. But you're wrong when you say you're useless to me. See.. you have information I need. Oh and don't worry, after I get it, I'll be out of your hair. I think I've overstayed my welcome in Beacon Hills. But before I leave I need information on other supernatural creatures that may be a little more willing than you to form a pack. Their strengths, weaknesses, you know, and advantage. All that information resides in a book that I know your pack has hidden." Stiles tried to steady his heartbeat to not give anything away, but it was easier said then done. He knew exactly what Theo was talking about, but there was no way he was letting Theo know that intentionally.

"What, the Dread doctors book? I mean I know you're a little slow on the uptake, but I'm pretty sure we gave you a copy to read. Have you forgotten it already? Man you should probably get your memory thing checked out while you're in the nut house for your psychopathic behavior."

"The bestiary Stiles. You've read it. Now I need it." Stiles's heartbeat jumped. He knew it, and cursed under his breath for the betrayal of his own body.

"What do you think I just carry that around in my pocket? Or even remember it? It's not even written in English!" Stiles shouted.

"Maybe not, but you've still seen every page. You hold all that information."

"Even if I had access to it and a translator, I would never tell you anything."

"Who says I need you to talk? No, even if you did you could be lying. I'd rather see them for myself, and you happened to be the easiest one to take who has that information."

"Wait... no." Stiles felt his heart plummet as realization dawned. "You can't, you're not an Alpha you could kill me, you could kill us both-"

" _I_ was fine last time I tried. I may not do it completely right, but I still came out fine. As for you, sorry Stiles, I'm not sure what will happen, especially since you're human. It's been fun, and I really am sorry about this."

Theo approached him, determination in his eyes. Panic fluttered through Stiles as he shuffled backwards, trying to get as far from Theo as possible. He looked around for something to grab and use as a weapon, but as soon as he diverted his eyes away from Theo, he pounced. Stiles ducked out of Theo's way, just missing his claws. With the door now directly behind him, he came to his senses and turned to run, but Theo was too fast. He grabbed Stiles by the back of his hoodie, flung him around so they were face to face, extended his claws, and punctured them through the back of Stiles neck. Stiles gasped in pain and went instantly still.

Theo's face disappeared and the pages of the bestiary started flashing through his mind. Pictures of Werejaguars Kanimas, Kitsunes, Oni, Werewolves, Werecoyotes, and more flashed across his memories, all accompanied by paragraphs of information in a language Stiles couldn't comprehend. The last thing he felt was the claws retracting from his neck, his legs buckling, and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

It was just one thing after another. Scott had finally gotten his pack back together and defeated Theo's chimera pack, turning them back into the humans they had been before the dread doctors had gotten a hold of them and releasing them from Theo's influence. But when he had turned around to face the false pack leader, he had disappeared, along with his best friend. Fear for his brother spiked his heart but he needed to keep a level head. He knew Stiles scent, but it would help to get something fresh. The pack ran to the outskirts of the woods to Stiles jeep to regain his scent. At least it should be easy enough to get to Theo. Once they found Stiles, he wouldn't be too far behind.

In the end Scott didn't have to track Stiles scent at all. An alert sounded on his phone that someone had broken into the clinic. The veterinary clinic was clearly one of the packs places to regroup, so why had Theo brought Stiles there? It didn't make sense to bring him to one of their own places. Unless that was the idea. Throw them off and give Theo more time. But more time for what? Scott had a bad feeling, and jumped off his bike as soon as they arrived. Malia had driven Stiles jeep to the clinic with Lydia and Liam, using the emergency spare Scott had on his key ring. With Deaton out of town, the clinic should have been locked, but it appeared that Theo had broken it off upon entering, and alerted the silent alarm system that had tipped off Scott. The four of them ran inside, preparing themselves for a confrontation with Theo. The first thing the pack noticed was Theo's scent. It was paired with Stiles's, but Theo's was older. He was here, and recently, but not anymore. Stiles scent was still present, and the pack followed it anxiously to the back room.

"Stiles?" Scott shouted as they raced towards the scent. Scott froze in the doorway, temporarily blocking the others from entering. Then he was running. "Stiles!" Stiles was crumpled on the floor, his back towards them. Scott reached him and turned him over so that he was facing the ceiling. "Stiles?" Stiles' eyes were open and staring right through Scott. He smelled small traces of blood and knew the back of Stiles neck contained puncture marks. He was going to kill Theo.

Malia cut the ties on his hands before kneeling next to his shoulders. "Stiles can you hear me?" She asked, anxiety rolling off of her in waves. Even though the two had broken up, they still cared about each other; it wasn't something that would just go away. She turned to Lydia. "What do we do?"

"Why are you asking me?" Lydia asked. She may have appeared to be calm in this moment but she was scared. She knew what Theo had done better than anyone. She knew how it effected her personally, but she was also a banshee, where as Stiles was just a human. How would his body react to something like this? She couldn't loose him. Stiles was always the one she turned to when she needed advice, or someone to listen. Even when he was with Malia, he had always been the person she could rely on if she was in need of a friend. Their friendship had only grown after Allison's death. She couldn't loose him.

"Because you're the only one that's been through this before. Theo did this to you too. And it messed you up for awhile but you came back from it. So what should we do? How can we help him? Lydia just tell us what to do!" Malia's voice was getting more panicked. Kira placed a hand on hers, and Malia visibly took a deep breath to calm down before her Coyote side took over.

"I don't know! I don't really remember the beginning. It's all a blank. I think we should bring him to the hospital. Scott your moms working right?"

"Yeah. Yeah she's working. Okay help me get him in his jeep."

Three hours later, Melissa McCall entered the waiting room to talk to the five teens and the Sheriff. "Physically Stiles is almost completely fine. He has a sprained ankle, and the punctures in the back of his neck have been cleaned and stitched up. Mentally... we couldn't get a response. His nerves acted normally, so the reason he's catatonic is medically a mystery, but I assume you have more of an idea about that?"

The sheriff looked pale. "Catatonic? But the same thing happened to Lydia a few months back and she's fine now. So he has to be too, right?"

"Theo went digging around in his head for something. He doesn't know how to do it right. Plus he's a chimera not a werewolf, so his powers could have effected his ability to do it correctly." Scott said quietly. He looked at Mr. Stilinski with determination. "Sheriff", "We'll figure it out. We're going to get him back."

Sheriff Stilinski was silent for a minute before he nodded, knowing the alpha wouldn't rest until his best friend was awake. "Okay. I put out an APB on Theo, and sent his picture out to the nearest departments. Every officer in every near county will be on the lookout." Later, after Sheriff Stalinski had returned to the station to check the progress of the case, the pack visited Stiles in his room. It was hard to see him like that. He looked pale but awake, his eyes were open and staring at nothing. His body was limp and unmoving. If he didn't blink every once in a great while it would appear as if he were dead. Mrs. McCall made it possible for them to stay in his room all night, hoping for any type of response that would indicate he could see or hear them. It was decided that one of them would be with him at all times just in case Theo decided he needed something else from him. No one would get to Stiles again. Scott would make sure of that.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: Hey everyone! I've been updating pretty frequently but just went back to school so it may be longer between chapters after this but hopefully you guys like it enough to keep reading :) I have one more chapter done already (where things will get a bit more intense) and I'll post it in a few days. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like this next one. Side note- I noticed a couple misspellings so I just re-uploaded this chapter. If you see any more please feel free to inform me and I'll change it :)

CHAPTER 3

After a week of Stiles being non-responsive, the hospital had moved him to the psych ward. When Eichen house came for him, the sheriff had audibly shot them down. There was no way his son was ever going back there. Over his dead body. Scott was going out of his mind with worry. He drilled Lydia over and over again about how she had woken up. The fact that a lot of it had to do with Meredeth guiding her through the correct usage of her powers, as well as Stiles himself helping her wake up from the fog she'd been in for so long didn't exactly help matters. Lydia had even gone and visited Stiles many times to try and return the favor, but he didn't even look at her, he didn't even move. Seeing as her being a banshee was apart of her healing process, whereas Stiles was human, gave everyone more reason to worry. The pack all felt the loss. Stiles may have been the only non-supernatural being in the pack, but he was clearly the glue that stuck all of them together. He was always the one to make everyone laugh, the sarcastic one, the one who came up with the plans, and the one the alpha trusted more than anyone. In some ways he was the strongest of them all. They all took the loss of him from their daily lives differently, and the main thing they could all agree on was that they needed to get him back.

Scott had spent most of his free time trying to track down Theo, to no avail. The other boy was gone, and had probably skipped town the second he had attacked Stiles.

...

In the end it was Malia who came up with the plan. "You've done it before. You and Lydia went into his head to try to save him from the Nogitsune right? So just do it again!"

"Malia, he's already in a fragile state because Theo did the same thing you're asking me to do. What if I make it worse?"

"Worse than he already is? Scott they're feeding him through tubes because he won't even chew. All he does is stare at nothing. He's worse than Lydia was. It's not Stiles anymore. I don't think it can get much worse." Scott was silent. He knew she had a point, but did he really want to take that chance? "Think of it this way then," Malia continued. "Last time you went into his head, Stiles told me that Peter had said it was more a war of the mind than the body. That applies here too. And you're an alpha. You've successfully done this at least twice right? You can do this. If he's trapped in his own head, he may not even realize what's happening. If anyone can bring him back its you Scott."

Scott thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Okay. But I'll only do it if Mr. Stilinski is alright with it. He should know the risks."

...

Although the sheriff wanted to know every detail of what was going to happen, he agreed to it almost immediately. He'd known it had worked on Stiles before, and he was willing to try anything to get his son back. He checked Stiles out of the hospital and brought him to Scotts house.

Melissa was waiting for them. She would observe and make sure Stiles was alright before and after the ordeal. They put Stiles on the couch and went over the plan again. It was simple; Scott would go in, find Stiles, and bring him back. He wasn't sure what he would find in his best friends mind. Last time he was trying to save Stiles from the Nogitsune. This time he was trying to save him from himself. Melissa checked his vitals and gave the okay. The rest of the pack gathered around, and it was obvious that most of them were purposely looking at Scott to avoid looking at the vacant eyes of Stiles Stilinski. Scott extended his claws and place them on the back of Stiles neck, wincing at the scabs already there from Theo's attack.

"Wait."

Everyone's eyes turned to Lydia. "Scott, I think someone else should go in with you. You don't know what you'll find. Plus you don't know how long you'll be in there. What would be minutes out here could be hours in there. If you get lost, it could help to have one of your pack to help you out."

Scott nodded and immediately looked at Malia. Scott knew Stiles and Malia still cared about each other. They always would. Maybe she could be the key to bringing Stiles back to himself. When he asked, she bit her lip. "I don't know. After everything that's happened with us I'm not sure he'd want to see me." She looked down, hiding the hurt that was displayed on her face. When she looked up again it was gone. "I actually think Lydia should go" she said with determination.

"Me?" Lydia asked, surprised. Stiles was one of her best friends, especially after everything they had been through together, but she was more surprised that Malia was the one who had recommended she go into Stiles's mind with Scott. She had honestly thought Malia didn't like her all that much.

"Yeah you." Malia said, locking eyes with the other girl. "Stiles had told me how it was you and Scott who went in last time to get him. It worked last time with both of you under, so if we keep the dynamics the same, there's a better chance at reaching him. Plus you've been through this before, you were catatonic because of what Theo did to you. Some things may be familiar."

Scott nodded and looked at Lydia. "She's got a point. Plus, you were his anchor when we went in the water to find the nemeton. Might as well keep the pattern going. And I could always use your brain if we run into any problems. You _were_ the one to think of howling at Stiles to get his attention last time." The rest of the pack looked to her in encouragement. Lydia nodded, not looking forward to the pain that would soon envelope her neck but knowing it was worth it to get her friend back. She stepped forward and sat down on the couch next to the catatonic boy and cleared her throat, nervous. Liam cleared his throat and looked at Scott and Lydia. "Be careful in there." he said awkwardly as he tried to blend into the background. He was still somewhat unsure how to act around them after the whole "I almost killed our alpha because I was upset on a super-moon" thing, but he had promised himself to be there for his pack every chance he got, no matter how uncomfortable it could get. Like now for instance. With that little farewell advice, he went silent again. Scott nodded at him and he felt himself relax. Kira moved from next to him over to Scott, and pulled his face to hers. Their kiss was gentle and lingering, trying to express her worry for him without saying any words. When she broke the kiss she smiled. "I'm not sure what to say, so I'll just say: be careful." Scott smiled at her, remembering the last time in Mexico when she had said the same thing to him before he had gone to find Derek.

Melissa cleared her throat and shifted her eyes to Stiles before giving a meaningful look to her son. Scott blushed before coughing uncomfortably. "Uh, right. Um okay. Lydia, are you ready?:

"Ready as I'll ever be." Scott re-extended his claws and placed them carefully along the back of his necks, making sure both were in a straight line behind their spines. He closed his eyes in concentration, letting his wolf instincts kick in but not take over. When he opened them again his vision was red, and he knew his eyes were glowing. He took a deep breath, and pushed his claws into the necks of his two friends. He heard both of them gasp, and then they were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Scott woke up standing in the hallway of the hospital, next to the door leading up to the roof. Lydia was next to him looking around in confusion. "Well at least we're not tied to beds this time." she marveled.

"Lydia, stay close. I don't want to get separated like last time." She nodded in understanding. Last time they were in Stiles's mind, it had almost immediately separated them and tested them each. It could have had a very different ending had it worked.

They didn't see the boy coming, too distracted in staying together, but they he was running by them and through the door leading to the roof. "Hey!" Scott shouted, following after him. "Hey, kid, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be coming up here, it can be dangerous." The boy ignored him and continued up the stairs, pushing himself through the door and onto the roof. Scott looked at Lydia before following suit. He had been the only person they had seen since waking up here, maybe he was important? Either way they had to get him off the roof. The kid looked about nine or ten, and definitely shouldn't even know how to get to the roof let alone be on it without a member of the hospital staff present. Scott shouted to the kid one more time when he got to the roof, but the kid had disappeared. Instead what drew Scotts eyes was the figure of the sheriff, talking to a woman that was dangerously close to the edge. Scott froze, trying to decide what to do. Trying to figure out how the sheriff was even here. Was this a trick?

"He's trying to hurt me. I don't care if you don't believe me but he is. He's trying to kill me!"

"Claudia he's ten years old!"

"He's trying to kill me" Scotts head whipped towards the woman. Claudia? But- that was Stiles moms name. Scott looked at the Sheriff again, and this time noticed how much younger he looked, how deep the bags under his eyes were.

"Stop it." Claudia said.

Scott felt Lydia's hand grip his arm. "Scott" she whispered, "She's looking at us." Scott looked back to Stiles mom, her head now facing their direction.

"Stop looking at me like that, stop it!" She started tearing herself free from the sheriffs grip, and then she was running towards them. "Stop looking at me!" she screamed. But instead of running into them, she ran right by them and into the shadows, where she plucked the boy they had followed up here into the light. With his face visible, Scott and Lydia had a brief second to take into account that the boy was crying and had probably heard everything, before his face was blocked out as his mother served him blow after blow, scratching and tearing and punching any part of him she could reach. Scott and Lydia stood frozen , unsure what to do, as muffled screams came from the boy "Mom! _Mom! No. Mom stop!"_ Realization dawned on Scott and he rushed forward. Before he could get to his brother on the ground, Mr. Stilinski ran over and desperately peeled his wife off of his son. At the same time, two nurses burst through the door, alerted by the commotion, and made their way to detain Claudia Stilinski, who was now screaming to take her son away from her.

Little Stiles was hunched over on the ground, his hood up, hiding his face from his dad, who was trying to make sure he was alright. Lydia and Scott exchanged a glance and made their way over as well. Mr. Stilinski was begging his son to put down his hood and look at him. Slowly, he raised his hands, dirty from being shoved on the ground, and lifted his hood to reveal his tear streaked face now red and raw with scratches and dark red spots where Scott knew bruises would form. Lydia grabbed his hand, as they knelt down next to the sheriff. "Mom hates me" little Stiles whimpered.

Lydia's heart went out to the boy she now knew so well. Her gaze drifted to his father, whose face was dark with worry and sadness. Lydia put her free hand out to touch Stiles hand, try to comfort him and make him look at her. Before her fingers brushed his, the world spun, and they were somewhere else.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey everyone hope you like the story so far! I'll try to update every few days but I'm only a chapter ahead so I still have a lot of writing to do. Thanks for the reviews it's nice to hear from you guys. Hope you like this chapter, it's a bit longer since the last one was so short.**

 **Something I wanted to point out- a guest review asked why Scott didn't recognize little Stiles and Claudia immediately from the last chapter if they had met when they were little. The reason he didn't recognize little Stiles is because most of the time he didn't see Stiles face, until him mom was attacking him and that was only a glace. As for Claudia, as stated in this following chapter, I'm writing that the boys didn't become best friends until they were about 11. They would have known each other in 4th grade (Theo implied that he knew both of them in 4th grade then in _Creatures of the night_ ) but while the actors said they think they would have met as little kids (about 4), I couldn't find it anywhere canon. If it is I apologize. I decided to go with 11 because they still would have been in grade school. Maybe they knew each other younger but didn't become best friends until that age, especially if Scott was close with Theo at the time. In S1's _Lunatic_ \- Scott didn't know that Stiles had panic attacks after his mom died (something he probably would have known if they'd been close after his mom died) so I decided they met probably became close soon after that. Hope it doesn't offend anyone, it's just how I thought in regards to this story. Love you guys!**

 **Enjoy and please review! -M**

CHAPTER 5

Lydia woke up in the parking lot of the school. She sat up, looking for Scott, who was already looking around in confusion, wondering how they had gotten there. Lydia was the first to notice Stiles blue jeep in the next lot. It was the only one in the parking lot, which would make sense given the fact that it was night, and seemed to be way past the time when normal people were at the school. Lydia knew they had to find Stiles, but she had to ask Scott something first.

"Scott. What the hell was that? I know Stiles's mom died, but… that was something else entirely. What was wrong with her? How could she-? How could she do that to her own son?" her stomach felt unsteady as she remembered Stiles 10 year old screams as his mother clawed at his face.

"His mom, she- she was sick. She had an incurable type of dementia. I knew when she got bad they had to put her in the hospital but Stiles never talked about it. We didn't become best friends until we were eleven and he almost never talks about her. I guess I never realized how bad it had gotten."

"You mean he never told you about that?" Lydia asked, surprised. Scott looked upset as he shook his head. Stiles wasn't one to talk about stuff like that. He never talked about the real stuff that was bothering him; he was always saying he was fine, no matter what he was going through. Scott knew if he needed to talk, he would. He had always assumed that Stiles would tell him what was bothering him, even if it took time so that his friend could process things first. It was only now that he wondered how much his best friend had shielded from him. Lost in his thoughts, Scott didn't notice Stiles until he heard the jeep sputter, and saw Stiles grab a wrench and open the hood.

Even from a distance Scott could see the annoyance in his best friends face as he tried to find the issue. Relief washed over Scott and he stood up, putting a hand out to Lydia to help her off the ground. "Stiles!" he shouted, but they were still too far away. Lydia looked over at Scott with a smile. "Well this was certainly easier than last time." She said, before heading in Stiles's direction. Only then did Scott notice a figure coming out of the shadows towards the jeep. His heart skipped a beat as he stepped into the light and he recognized the figure.

"Lydia wait!" he ran forward and put a hand on her shoulder before pointing out Donvan. Both of them looked on as Donovan approached Stiles, and put his hand out to place on Stiles shoulder. The seemingly innocent gesture turned foul when something unseen to his friends made Stiles scream. Only then did Scott remember a few months back how Stiles had lied about his jeeps hood falling on his shoulder, and he suddenly knew exactly what night this was. Scott knew exactly what was about to happen. And then he was running, watching helplessly as his best friend tried his best to fend off his attacker while reaching aimlessly for the wrench that was just out of reach. Almost there, Scott chanted in his head. 15 meters. 10. He saw Stiles head-butt Donovan, grab the wrench, whip around, and bring it forcibly across Donovan's face. He saw blood spurt onto the pavement. And then Stiles was running towards the school, nearly tripping over his feet to get away.

Scott had lost track of Lydia in the mayhem, but now saw a flash of her green sweater as she followed Stiles into the school. Meanwhile, Donovan was already getting up, and Scott pounced, ready to fight him to keep him away from Stiles. Except the problem he realized now, was that this wasn't actually real. They were in the mindscape, and this was just a memory of something that had already happened. As such, when Scott pounced on Donovan, he went right through him, as if he was made of mist. Unfortunately that meant Scott had basically just attacked the pavement, and landed forcibly on the asphalt. He watched helplessly as Donovan got up, and followed Stiles and Lydia inside the school. Grunting in pain, Scott followed behind, still trying aimlessly to get a hold of Donovan.

When he got to the library, Scott noticed the card Donovan used to enter. Theo's name was printed on the front. As pieces of the puzzle started fitting into place, guilt spread through Scott, knowing he should never have trusted him. Stiles had called it since day one, and once again, Scott hadn't believed him. And look where it had gotten him. He followed his senses and found Lydia standing right behind Stiles, listening to Donovan asking if he should text Malia back. That would explain why Stiles hadn't called anyone for help that night.

"Scott! Holy- you scared the shit out of me. Stiles he- I tried but he can't hear me. I didn't know what to do so I've just been sticking with him." She whispered

"I know, I tried to attack Donovan outside, but I went right through him. Lydia I think I know what's happening." Scott didn't even know why he was whispering, he knew Donovan couldn't hear him. "We're in Stiles's head right? I think we're going through his memories. This is the night he killed Donovan."

"So we can't do anything to stop it?"

"I don't think so. We can't touch either of them, and they don't seem to be able to see or hear us. There's really nothing we can do but watch."

"But why? That doesn't make any sense. Last time we were here there was a test for each of us and immediately after we passed, we found Stiles. Why is it so different?"

"Last time we were also being kept away by the Nogitsune. So how do we find Stiles in his own memories?"

Lydia was quiet, thinking. She was trying to tune out Donovans taunting as he came closer, but breathed a sigh of relief as she saw his feet go up the stairs. An idea struck her about their current situation, and just as she was about to tell Scott, Stiles began moving around the end of the bookcase. He went right through her, and she gasped in surprise. Scotts ears twitched and she knew he had heard something that only someone with enhanced hearing would be able to hear. Suddenly, a hand reached through the bookshelves and grabbed Stiles, dragging him through the book rack and landing on a pile of fallen books. "Stiles!" Scott yelled. But Stiles was already on his feet and running to the center of the library. Unfortunately, so was Donovan. He slammed Stiles against the scaffolding being used to upgrade apart of the Library. Stiles was struggling, and finally landed a blow with an elbow to Donovans face. Donovan went down like a bag of bricks and screamed in frustration as Stiles began to climb the scaffolding. He turned around, took one step onto the ladder, and grabbed his Stiles's leg, preventing him from going any higher.

Knowing it was pointless didn't stop Scott from trying to drag Donovan off of his best friend. "Don't worry Stiles, I'm not going to kill you." Scott heard Donovan taunt. Then his voice changed into something more sinister, more deranged as he growled "I'm just going to eat your legs." Stiles yelled and struggled to get out of his grasp. He looked at something just out of eye shot from Scott. By that time Scott had screamed in frustration and given up trying to get a hold of Donovan, he just managed to go through him again and again. He backed up, grabbing a hold of Lydia who stood nearby with her hand over her mouth, fear for her friend displayed on her face. It was then that Scott noticed what Stiles was reaching for with panic in his eyes. He remembered what Stiles had told him had happened next and found himself screaming at him to hurry up. To get what he knew was going to happen over with. To be safe. He turned to Lydia and told her to close her eyes.

"What, why?" she asked, not really paying attention to him.

"Don't ask just close your eyes." He told her again. Just as she did what he asked, Stiles grasped the pin and pulled. He saw the poles of scaffolding cascade through the air and spill onto the floor. He grabbed Lydia and turned away; protecting her from any of the falling metal and averting his eyes as he heard one of the poles embed itself in flesh. He turned his head slowly back towards the scene and flinched at the pole sticking out of Donovan's chest. He saw Stiles look over in shock as he descended the scaffolding. Together they watched Donovan glower over at Stiles before the light went out of his eyes.

He heard Lydia gasp in horror at the scene before them. "Oh my God. Oh my God Scott he killed him. But- but it was in self-defense right? It was in self-defense he was going to kill Stiles! Or at least, what, eat him?" She shuttered at the thought. Scott was silent as they watched Stiles run to the phone and call 911, only to freeze, unable to actually talk into the receiver. Watched as he ran to the library door, only to turn back as his phone went off in Donovans pocket. Scott watched as his best friend retrieved his phone with shaking hands, and left the library. Lydia stepped in front of Scott, forcing his eyes away from the door Stiles had just run out of, and grabbed his hand. She raised her eyebrows, a silent question asking if he was alright. He nodded and together they followed Stiles as he fixed his jeep, and hid away from the police officer who pulled into the lot. Pity coursed through Scott as he watched his friend internally struggle with what had just happened to him. He couldn't tear his eyes away.

That is until the radio stated that it was all a false alarm, a prank call. " _What?"_ Lydia screeched in confusion. They ran in front of Stiles back into the Library, all of them pausing in confusion and horror as they stared at the lack of a body, lack of blood anywhere in the Library. "Jordan" Lydia whispered. "It had to be." But it was still unusual, how had he gotten rid of the blood so fast?

Before she had time to think over it more, the world went black, and they were somewhere else.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Lydia was in the middle of a party. A rager from what she could tell. There were teenagers everywhere, the music was loud, and people were clearly drunk. "Scott?" she said, looking around. "Scott?" she said louder, scanning around the pool. Wait. The pool, she knew that pool, it was _her_ pool. This must be one of her famous parties. Which one? She looked closely at the people that surrounded her and noticed most of them weren't holding the classic red cups, but instead held clear plastic glasses containing a pink punch with a distinctive purple flower floating at the top of each one. Lydia's heart lurched as she remembered this particular party. It had been her birthday and she essentially poisoned everyone, causing them to hallucinate while she resurrected Peter, the alpha that had nearly killed her a few months prior. Just then she spotted Scott and Stiles walking towards her. "Scott!" she yelled, trying to get his attention, but he didn't hear her. Something was off about him though; his hair was longer. Only then did her gaze fall upon Stiles. His hair was short, a crew cut, as it had been for years before he had decided to grow it out the past year. She'd almost forgotten how young he looked with all his hair chopped off. "Scott there you are I've been looking for-"

"Lydia! Lydia over here!" Lydia looked in the direction she had just come from to find Scott rushing towards her. Wait a second. She looked back towards the Scott walking towards her talking to Stiles, and then towards the one running towards her. Huh. Well this was totally bizarre. Clearly the one running was the real Scott since he could see her, and she stood there as he reached her. "Where were you? I was calling for you" She asked.

"I woke up on the other side of the house. No clue why. This was your birthday party right? I still remember hallucinating Allison and Jackson making out here. That was disturbing." Scott zoned out for a second as his nose scrunched up in disgust. Lydia raised an eyebrow at him, and he stared at her for an awkward few seconds before clearing his throat. "Right- changing the subject. So why are we here?" Lydia nodded in the direction of younger Scott and Stiles. "Whoa- I've never seen me from the outside! How weird. So I guess this is what it would be like to have a twin right?" Scott bounded over to his younger self and slowed his pace to match his younger self. He began pointing between him and his younger self while shooting a goofy grin at Lydia, who rolled her eyes and whispered "boys…" under her breath. The younger boys were close enough for Lydia to overhear them.

"You okay?" Stiles asked Scott. He shrugged. "It's not the moon, it's different."

"Is that what I really sound like?" Scott asked, stepping next to Lydia. " _It's not the moon it's different_ " he said in an exaggerated husky voice. He started cracking up at himself until a commotion disrupted his laughter.

"..What are you an idiot? I just came from a funeral; you know people wear black at funerals! Get out of my face."

"Mr. Stilinski? What the hell? He wasn't here, was he Scott?" Lydia stated, confused.

"No, he wasn't. And he never gets drunk, let alone in public…" Scott said, sobering up a little in his confusion. The sheriff looked just past their direction at Stiles, who had paused right behind Scott. He raised the bottle of whiskey in his right hand and gestured in his sons direction.

"It's you. It's allllll you." He said "You know every day, I saw her lying in that hospital, slowly dying. I thought how the hell am I supposed to raise this stupid kid on my own. This hyperactive little bastard that keeps ruining my life!" He words were harsh, and Scott flinched as he looked at his best friend. The hurt on his face was plain, but what cut through Scott was that he didn't look all that surprised. Almost like he always suspected his dad felt this way.

"Scott- please tell me this didn't really happen." Lydia said in horror.

"I- I don't think so. I think this was Stiles's hallucination from the wolfs bane but- he never told me about it. I didn't even know he _had_ hallucinated, I just knew he got trashed because I was the one who had to sober him up. I suspected but… never told me.

"It's all you. It's you _Stiles._ " Mr. Stilinski snarled with disgust. Scott saw Stiles and noticed tears were starting to form in his eyes. "You killed your mother. You hear me? You killed her. And now you're killing me." With that, he drew back his hand and whipped the bottle of Whiskey towards his son. Scott instinctively shot in front of Stiles to protect him from getting hit with the bottle. Before it could hit either of them it disappeared, and the sounds of disorderly teenagers and loud music once again filled the air. Lydia was staring at Stiles as he wiped the tears from his face and went to find a drink. She turned to Scott with a guilty expression. "I did that to him." She whispered. "I put the wolfs bane in the drinks, I made people hallucinate. _I_ made him see that."

Scott grabbed her shoulders. "Lydia it's not your fault. You had a lunatic dead werewolf alpha in your head threatening you. And you know Stiles, he rubs it off. He'll be fine. He _was_ fine. I think." The world around them started to dim. Remembering how they were separated last time, Lydia grasped for Scotts hand as everything changed.

…

When they opened their eyes, they were back at the school, but it was early, the sun was just coming up. Lydia took her hand from Scotts and turned to face him. "I didn't get a chance to tell you last time we were here but, I think I know what's going on. Back in the library I commented how last time we had a test and you asked how we find Stiles in his own memories, right? Well, what if this **is** the test? Last time the nogitsune was trying to keep us away from Stiles, but what if everything we're seeing, all these memories, _are_ his defense mechanism?"

"How can going through these memories be a defense mechanism?"

"Well in all of these memories we can touch items in the rooms, but not the people, right? And not Stiles, whose head we're in. So what if a part of his subconscious senses us, but doesn't recognize us? He could be throwing these memories at us as a way to keep us away from him. As a way to protect himself from any intrusions. If there's a part of him that remembers Theo digging around in here, he could think we're doing the same thing. He's hiding from us. I think these memories are a way to protect himself and prevent us from finding him."

Scott nodded, thinking. But he looked worried. "But if he is hiding from us, then how do we find him? If he's going through his memories, how will we know when it's really him and not just another memory?"

"Well we'll probably be able to touch him when we find him. Hopefully it'll be a little more obvious like the white room, but we'll just have to test every Stiles we run into just in case." Just as she spoke, Stiles entered the room, keys tapping against his other hand nervously. He looked down at a strange key that Scott didn't recognize, and placed it into the chemistry closet lock. He paused before twisting it and pushing open the door. He stood there, dread leaking into his features before turning around and approaching the chalk board, where Scott saw numbers with letters next to them spelling KIRA. As he passed her, Lydia reached out and attempted to grab his shoulder, but again, it went right through him. She looked up at the board and tilted her head to the side. "I remember that. That's how Stiles and I figured out that Barrow was after Kira. He got a coded message made from atomic numbers spelling out her name."

"I didn't believe him…"

"What?" Lydia said, looking back at Scott in curiosity. He nodded at the board as Stiles picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the numbers 19, 53, 88 next to the ones that were already there. They were clearly written in the same hand.

"He tried to tell me. Later that day he came back to show me the board but it was gone, so was the key to the chemistry closet. He tried to tell me that he thought it was somehow him who had written the message to Barrow to kill Kira. He knew something was up before anyone. But I basically just told him he had to be wrong and to go home and get some sleep. He had sensed the nogitsune was in him, and I didn't believe him. Why do I never believe him?"

"Scott no one would have believed that Stiles was killing people. Not until there was more proof. Maybe you should have taken him more seriously, but it's not a bad thing that you believed the best in your friend."

"You don't understand, Stiles has been right before, but I never listen. He was the first person to suspect that the nogitune was inside him, even if he didn't know exactly what, he knew something was wrong with him. And Matt? Stiles suspected it was him killing people from the beginning. His excuse was that he just didn't like him but he couldn't explain why. Don't you see? He had this gut feeling, and I ignored it. Just like with Theo. He didn't trust him from day one, and I kept rubbing it off but he was right! Again! What the hell kind of friend am I?" Scott gripped his hair in frustration.

Lydia grabbed his arms and yanked them out of his hair. "You're the type of person who gives people a second chance. Someone who doesn't judge a person right away. Yes, Stiles was right. He probably has extremely good intuition about people because he grew up around cops, which is an amazing and rare thing to have. But just because you trust people easier and are always willing to give people second and third chances doesn't mean you're a bad person, or a bad friend. Stiles knows that. He is extra careful about trusting people as a way to protect you, because you're so busy protecting everybody else." The classroom started to go dark and they both knew what was next. Lydia fixed Scott with a glare. "Now stop moping around and pitying yourself because we have a job to do in here. Your existential crisis will have to wait. Ready for the next one?"

Before he had a chance to answer, they were already there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed it means a lot to know you like it :) Shout out to** DrewSb **for reviewing almost every chapter :D** **Thanks as well to anyone who took time to read this so far.** **I'm trying to update every 2 or 3 days so stay tuned! Love you guys!**

CHAPTER 7

This time there was no need to wait for Stiles to appear. When the area around them came into focus, Stiles was sitting at Coach's desk, looking through papers. It was once again night time, and as his friends looked at him, they noticed his eyes were unfocused and they knew he was putting pieces together in his mind. Scott looked around, trying to remember when this could have been and noticed someone lurking in the doorway. "I was wondering how that idiot got sick" he stated. Stiles jumped up from the desk, casting a weary glance at the professor. "I'm also wondering where your friends are." He said, twisting a silencer into place on what Scott now realized was a gun. "Since in order to get paid by the benefactor I need to have proof they're dead."

"Stiles…" Scott said in a low voice, moving closer to his friend. Lydia moved with him.

Stiles blinked in understanding. "Visual confirmation."

The chemist nodded. "Exactly." He said, and brought the gun up to face Stiles. He came nearer and dragged Stiles out of the office by the back of his hoodie before shoving him in front of him, gun pointing at his back. "You still look feverish Mr. Stilinski. You should know something; the virus doesn't kill humans. You'll get better. So don't you think you should tell me where they are? Shouldn't one of you get to live?" Scotts heart was beating twice as fast as it normally would and he realized he was holding up his hands between the chemist and his friend as if mediating the two of them. Lydia was next to Stiles, but facing the chemist. She had already tried to grab his hand with no effect.

"I think I saw them in the Library." The Chemist looked surprised at Stiles's willingness to give his friends away. "Or maybe in the cafeteria it was definitely one of those two." Annoyance crossed the chemists face as understanding set in.

"I'm going to count to three, and then I'm going to kill you." Scotts heart skipped a beat and he had to remind himself that this was a trick. Just a memory. Stiles was fine, he had gotten away. He knew his dad had killed the chemist before he could kill Stiles. He knew his past self and their friends were in the vault downstairs, but it didn't make this feel any less real. Stiles turned around to face the man with a gun to his chest.

"You think you can scare me?" he asked, defiance displayed throughout his features.

"No I think I can kill you." The chemist replied nonchalantly. "I just thought the countdown would make it more _exciting._ So…" He raised the gun and pressed it against Stiles's head. "One." Stiles stayed silent, but his hands began to shake in fear. He didn't blink. "Two." The chemist said, anger plaguing his features. Stiles shifted on his feet, fear now in his eyes. Unwilling to show fear, he closed them tight, shaking all over as he prepared for his death. Scotts heart lurched, and he thought he was going to throw up. Where was his dad?! He saw the chemist's mouth start to form the last word his friend may have ever heard, but instead he heard a gunshot, and watched in surprise as blood splattered onto Stiles's face. Lydia screamed and grabbed Scott, hands shaking. Stiles spit blood out of his mouth and inhaled quickly in surprise to find himself still alive. All three of them watched as Scotts dad emerged from the shadows in an looking like a psychopathic banana.

"Scott I don't want to see anymore." Lydia whimpered. "I want to get to the next one, I want this to be over, I don't want to see anymore can we just go? Please Scott I don't want to be in this room anymore. I don't want to see him almost die again." She was shaking and backing away from the body at their feet. Scott nodded and backed away with her out the door, the further they walked the darker it became, and the scene changed.

They were in a different classroom, and daylight was once again streaming through the glass windows. Coach was at the front of the unusually silent classroom, staring at Stiles, who had just taken a seat. Lydia was still shaking, and Scott was holding her close, trying to comfort her as well as himself. He couldn't help but wonder if his dad had been even one second later. He shuttered at the thought, and tried to concentrate on what was going on around him. They had to find his friend. When Scott focused on what was happening, his confusion only grew. No one in the class was speaking.

Stiles looked at coach. "Hey coach, thought I was in the wrong class for a second." Coach raised his hands and signed something to Stiles. Scotts head tilted in confusion.

"Scott that's sign language." Lydia stated. Her eyebrows crinkled in confusion and she stopped shaking.

"…was even an elective here." Stiles was saying. He swallowed as the creepiness increased as coach stared at him without blinking. "Well this has been good, I'm probably going to head out." He said, gathering his books and standing before heading towards the door. As soon as he reached the front of the room, the entire rest of the class began signing the same thing.

"When is a door not a door." Scott said softly.

"What?" Lydia asked

"It's what Stiles said he saw when he zoned out in class. We're somehow in a dream within Stiles head. This was a dream he had last year, I remember him telling Deaton and I about it. It may have even been the first clue that the nogitsune was inside of him but we didn't know it at the time. It's how we realized we had opened a door into our minds when we died."

"Do you hear that? It kind of sounds like a whistle." The signing was getting faster and faster, and none of the kids in the class broke eye contact with Stiles, who was backing away from them.

Lydia and Scott were suddenly in a different setting with Coach blowing a whistle right next to their faces. Both their eyes simultaneously widened in pain as the ear shattering noise went through their skulls. When it ended, Coach started yelling at Stiles, who was now seated a few rows back next to Scott. "I remember this too. Stiles said he had just fallen asleep, but his eyes had been open the whole time, he'd been writing really fast on his notebook to wake up. It freaked me out."

Before they knew what was happening, darkness swirled around them and they were in the boys locker room. "Great. I didn't even get a chance to touch him!" Lydia yelled in annoyance. Scott raised his eyebrows at her, his mouth twitching. Lydia rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up you know what I meant. I didn't get a chance to test him."

Scott smiled. "Okay well where is he now?" As if on cue, Stiles came tumbling through the door, sporting his lacrosse practice gear and ushering another player into the room.

"Hey you okay, Scott, you okay?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" younger Scott screamed. Lydia jumped in surprise and looked at present Scott. "What was wrong with you?" Stiles jumped back, sliding on the floor before getting to his feet and stumbling back.

"I couldn't control it. Stiles said I tried to kill him but I don't really remember, it's kind of a blur. I'd rather not see myself almost kill my best friend." He saw himself jump on top of the lockers and winced. "Lydia come on, I want to try something." He opened the door he and Stiles had just come through and left the room, leaving the memory behind them.

"Scott, I didn't get to- Where are we going?" Lydia asked, trailing behind him. Scott didn't really have an answer, he just didn't want to see what he knew was coming next. He chose to flee the scene instead. He could hear banging coming from where they'd just left as Stiles ran into lockers in his attempt to get away. Scott walked faster. The further away from the locker room Scott and Lydia went, the darker the area around them became. Lydia stopped walking and Scott slowed. The darkness enveloping them stayed at the same shade until they moved. The two exchanged a glance before walking backwards towards the locker room again. The area began to lighten. With another glace at each other they were running forward once again. The darkness became more prominent, and they were gone.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Unfortunately, when things came into focus, they were still in the school. They were in the middle of the hallway surrounded by students going to and from class. Their classmates, unable to see them, kept walking right through them. Lydia shivered every time, feeling slightly violated and backed into the lockers to get away from the swarm of people trying to walk through her. She looked over at Scott. "I never realized how much happens in this school."

"Yeah tell me about it, I was hoping this memory would be anywhere but here. But we did learn something new."

"We can leave the memories. Go through them faster, and find Stiles." Lydia said, nodding.

She looked over to the only two people not walking in the hall. One of them was Stiles. Her eyebrows involuntarily raised when she realized the other was herself. She saw what Scott had meant at the party about seeing yourself technically for the first time. People only see themselves through mirrors and picture, but no one really saw themselves from the outside. It was interesting. She couldn't help wishing she could see herself like this more often to get an outside perspective on if her hair was on point. They were standing in the middle of the hallway, and Stiles was putting his phone back in his pocket with shaking hands. Shit. She recognized what was happening.

"There's still time." She was saying. "We still have time right?"

"Stiles?" Scott asked from besides her, and started moving towards him. He put a hand on his shoulder, but it went right through. Stiles was breathing really heavy and looked unsteady on his feet. He started turning in a circle as if trying to get his bearings.

"What is it? What's wrong?" other Lydia asked, growing more and more concerned. "Stiles." She said forcibly, and he turned to look at her.

"I think I'm having a panic attack." He said.

Scott glanced at Lydia, worry clear on his face. "When did this happen? I mean I can guess when this happened but like, how did you break him out of his panic attack? He never told me about it but I've only seen him get one once. It was intense." Lydia and Stiles were moving quickly down the hall towards the boys locker room.

Lydia averted her eyes. "Oh I don't know I used some technique I read about once." She said, waving her hand in the air like it was just an old thing she knew. She looked away from Scott and down the hall, trying to keep her cheeks from burning and failing miserably. Scott looked at her in confusion, but seemed to brush it off as he made his way down the hall, following after Stiles and Lydia. "Scott wait!" she said as her younger self and Stiles turned the corner where the locker room was located. "Scott you already tested Stiles. It's not the real him. We should just go. If we get away from Stiles, the memory will fade and bring us to the next one. Every one we see brings us closer right?" she said anxiously. She knew what happened next and if Stiles never told Scott she certainly didn't want to.

"I know, I know. And I know this is just a memory but last time he had a panic attack… it scared me. I just want to be there until he comes out of it." Lydia looked like she wanted to argue but he cut her off before she could. "Lydia I know it doesn't make sense okay? I know this happened already. It'll just take a second." He ran the rest of the way before Lydia could stop him. All she wanted to do was run in embarrassment in the opposite direction but found herself rolling her eyes and following after Scott. It wasn't like she did anything wrong, and there was nothing to be embarrassed about. It was just a kiss. She trudged into the boys locker room and followed the sound of her own voice. She found Scott kneeling next to his best friend, concern on his face.

That's where she drew the line. If he was going to see what happened in this memory, she would not have him inches away from their faces. Because this wasn't already awkward enough. She grabbed the back of his hoodie and dragged him backwards. Taken by surprise, he nearly toppled over backwards and repeatedly almost lost his footing as he was forced into standing position. "Lydia what the hell?!" he yelled once the pressure was off of his windpipe.

"You really don't need to be that close Scott." She glanced up to see herself kneeling next to Stiles, who was wheezing on his knees, holding his chest as he continued to have trouble breathing. Scott shot her a glare before looking back at his best friend. He stood off to Lydias side rubbing his neck where she had practically choked him, but she noticed he didn't move closer again.

"Good things!" Her younger self was saying. "uhh friends, family!" Stiles looked at her like she was crazy, sending an obvious message that she was not helping. Her face scrunched up as she realized her mistake. "Uh I mean, not family, oh God. Okay just, try to slow your breathing." Lydia could see Scotts hands twitching, wanting to move, do something, anything. She was trying to look anywhere but the scene in front of them, but her eyes seemed to be drawn there.

"I can- I can't." Stiles whispered, wheezing getting more and more shallow as he tried to breathe.

Younger Lydia grabbed his face in her hands. "Stiles look at me. Shhhh. Look at me. Shhh Stiles." She soothed. And then she was kissing him, mouth pressed hard against his in desperation. His eyes were wide in shock before he gave in and kissed her back. Present Lydia glanced at Scott, who had went from worried to shocked. His mouth dropped, but the corners were pointed up in a shocked smile, as he slowly turned to Lydia. "Whaaaat?" he whispered, staring at her with glee in his eyes. She knew she wouldn't hear the end of this for a while. She cleared her throat uncomfortably but looked him square in the eyes, determined not to back down. Behind him, younger Lydia broke the kiss and backed away, her eyes still closed as Stiles searched her face in confusion. He tested his breathing, realizing he could breathe normally again, his adrenaline from the panic attack having stopped.

"How'd you do that?" Stiles asked Lydia, their faces still amazingly close.

"I uh, I read once that holding your breath can stop a panic attack? So.. when I kissed you.. you held your breath." She said softly.

Stiles nodded "I did?" he asked.

"Yeah. You did." She whispered. The two sat there for a second, gathering their bearings.

"Thanks." Stiles said after a pause. "That was really smart." They backed away from each other and sat down in more comfortable positions. Present Scott was looking between current and past Lydia, mouth still gaping. The locker room started to fade.

"I just, I don't know I just read it somewhere." She said, trying to diffuse the awkwardness. Scott was still staring at Lydia, and looked like he was about to say something, but with their surroundings blackening, Lydia grabbed Scotts hand to avoid getting separated.

...

They were still in the school. When seeing they were in yet another classroom, Lydia screamed in frustration. She was so sick of seeing Stiles hurt in this school. So sick of seeing these white walls. She didn't care if they went through these memories, but she was starting to feel claustrophobic, like they were trapped in these damn classrooms.

Just then Stiles and a younger Scott burst into the classroom. Scott appeared to be struggling to control himself. "No, get back I don't know what's going to happen." Lydia was interested in what was happening, but when she looked over at Scott with the question in her eyes, she found him looking at her in amusement. He was completely ignoring what was happening around him, which had to be hard because his younger self was not exactly being quiet.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing, just- you kissed him. I'm just a bit taken aback. There were other ways to break him out of his panic attack. Like, I don't know, just telling him to hold his breath?" he said, laughter in his voice.

"Oh shut up Scott. I also needed him to stop thinking about his breathing; he was freaking himself out more when he was concentrating on it. He was scaring me and I was just trying to make his attack stop." Lydia reached out a hand and tested Stiles. Nothing. She turned her gaze back to Scott.

"Are you sure it wasn't more than that? You seemed to enjoy it just a bit and were pretty awkward afterwards." Scott said, raising an eyebrow. Lydia was momentarily distracted as the Scott nearby drug his claws into his hands, screaming as he drew blood. She winced at the sight, and present Scott stepped in front of his older self, forcing Lydia to look at him again.

"No Scott, it wasn't more than that, I was helping! And of course I was a little awkward after that, we're just friends and I kissed him." She said, feeling embarrassed to be having this conversation. Scott looked at her with skepticism but just said "Alright" And turned his head towards the scene in front of him. Past Scott had gotten himself control through stabbing his hands with his claws. Blood littered the floor and he was breathing hard, but he was in control of himself again.

"This isn't just in our heads. This is real. It's starting to get bad for me too." Stiles was saying, looking away from Scott and down at the floor. "I'm not just having dreams I'm having nightmares where I literally have to scream myself awake. And sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm ever actually waking up." Stiles was looking up at Scott again, but kept momentarily averting his eyes as if embarrassed to be admitting how bad it was getting for him.

"What do you mean?" Past Scott asked.

"You know how you tell if you're dreaming?" Stiles asked, an expression crossing his face that Lydia couldn't quite make out. "You can't read in dreams. More and more last few days I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words, I can't put the letters in order."

"Like even now?" Younger Scott asked, concern in his face. Stiles slowly stood up and looked around the room. Lydia and Scott looked around with him, and noticed that all of the posters and books had words where the letters were out of order. They had English in this class and knew what the posters actually read, but now the words were unrecognizable, and still managed to look like they were real, like they were printed that way. Scott grabbed her arm from beside her and nodded at the board. The writing was unreadable. It was clearly written to display a message, but it was alien to all three of them, jumbled to incomprehension.

"I can't read a thing." Stiles said, and Lydia realized what she had seen in Stiles' face before. Fear. He was hiding it well, but a fraction was displayed on his face.

Lydia looked over at Scott. "Did you know it was this bad?"

"There was no way to know how bad this got; to me it was all in order. I just knew it wasn't to him." He kept reminding himself that Stiles was fine now. It was over.

"Scott, have you noticed something?" Lydia asked. Scott looked over at her. "These memories. They're getting slightly less intense. Maybe that means were getting through the memories. That Stiles is close. There's no guarantee but, it's possible right? How much could Stiles have gone through?" Scott didn't answer.

"Come on, let's go." Scott said, but before they could leave, the classroom was dimming, and Scott grabbed Lydias arm. "Here's to hoping we get out of this damn school this time." Lydia laughed, and the school disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you for the reviews, I like the feedback and it means more than you know! Special thanks to the** guest **review of Ch. 8. As a writer it's really nice to hear, as well as** DrewSb **and** Shadow Wolf-78 **who review frequently :) Also a little heads up, for those who have requested things to be seen, most (not all, but definitely most) were already on my list ;) Not sure when it will show up exactly but keep a look out. This chapter is a bit longer. Not sure if you guys like that or not but I hope you do. There was just so much to write. Almost done with the next chapter and I'll post in a couple days. Love you guys. Please review! **

**...**

CHAPTER 9

They weren't sure when they arrived. It normally only took a second, but after blinking a few times, the room around them was still cloaked in darkness. The first thing they became aware of was the smell. It was awful, like intense chemicals. "Ugh. Scott?" Lydia asked in confusion. She knew he was there; her arm was still within his grip.

"I don't know." He replied to the unasked question. He had no idea what that smell was. No idea why it was so dark, where they were, or what was going on. Scott continued to hold onto Lydias arm so he wouldn't lose her in the darkness. "Maybe this is-"

"Shhh!" she said. "Listen…" Scott didn't hear anything, and he was listening intently. "I thought I heard something." Lydia said. Then he heard it. A shuffling, as if someone was slithering on the ground. "Stiles?" Lydia asked. "Is that you? The real you?" They listened closely, and heard more shuffling noises, followed by a grunt and more shuffling.

Scott closed his eyes in concentration, letting his wolf instincts kick in, but not take over. When he opened his eyes, his vision was red.

Lydia saw his eyes begin to glow, and for the first time, it scared her a little. In the island of black surrounding her, it was the only thing she could see. Not his facial features, or anything else in the room, just his eyes. He mind momentarily went back to that night with Peter, his voice echoing in her head as his eyes caught fire and his teeth bared in her face. She shivered and shook her head. This was Scott, not Peter. Get it together Lydia, she scolded herself.

Now able to see in the dark room, Scott looked around for whatever was making the shuffling noises. He and Lydia were standing between a staircase and what appeared to be a large black oil tank. He led Lydia around the tank where he saw a figure lying on the ground. The figure was bringing something out of its pocket. A glare shone in his eyes and he blinked in surprise, instinctively turning them back to their normal brown. The light Scott had seen was a phone; he saw Stiles' face reflected dimly from the screen. He looked scared. Scott tried to look at Lydia, but he could only make out her silhouette. Things got darker as Stiles brought the phone to his ear, hands shaking.

Once again Scott and Lydia were thrown into darkness, but this time, they could at least hear more. They listened to the dim ringing and Scott hoped whoever Stiles was calling would answer soon. He still didn't know where they were. Had Stiles been kidnapped? Had he slept walked into his basement? He heard the click of someone answering the phone.

"Hey man what's up?" The voice on the receiving end asked. The voice sounded familiar, but it took a second to realize it was his own. Stiles didn't immediately answer. "Stiles?" The voice on the phone said. Both Scott and Lydia could hear Stiles' heavy breathing. It was freezing down here, and he knew Stiles had to be shivering. "Stiles you there?" Scott said through the phone.

"Scott." Stiles whispered, he voice full of fear. He sounded on the brink of tears.

"Hey yeah, I'm here, uh- are you okay? Can you hear me?" Any grogginess in Scotts voice was immediately gone, but he didn't yet sound alarmed. Not yet at least.

Stiles voice rang out of the darkness. "I don't know where I am, I don't know how I got here. I think I was sleepwalking." The conversation came into focus for Scott as he remembered this night, being on the receiving end of that call. He remembered his gut wrenching fear as he raced around town in the dead of night looking for his friend. But it didn't make sense. This was the night he had slept walked into the woods, but Scott had seen the stairs and the oil tank next to them. Had he really woken up here and then moved into the woods next?

He knew Lydia was having a hard time hearing on-the-phone-Scott's part of the conversation, and she moved closer to hear. Scott moved with her, even though his wolf hearing could pick up everything just fine.

"Okay, uh um, can you see anything? Just tell me what you see?"

"It's dark it's hard to see. Oh no there's something wrong with my leg- Scott? Scott are you there?" Scott could hear the dial tone and knew the call had dropped. "Damn it" Stiles whispered. Scott had forgotten about that part. When they had brought Stiles into the hospital, his leg had been fine. Other than a few scrapes and scratches, nothing had been wrong with it. The phone in front of Stiles lit up again as he took it away from his ear. Scott noticed his phone had only one bar. That must have been why the call had dropped. He remembered calling Stiles after that, only for it to have gone to voice mail. Service here must be pretty crappy. Able to see slightly again, Lydia walked up to Stiles and kneeled down, attempting to put her hand on his in comfort, but it went through his instead. Stiles hit Scotts name again, and put the phone to his ear. They were thrown into darkness again as ringing filled the air. After a single ring, the phone clicked. "Stiles." Scott said through the receiver, voice anxious.

"Scott I don't think I can get out of here, I can't move"

"Where are you?"

"I don't know" Stiles voice was shaking. From next to him, Scott was concentrating on his chemo signals. His fear was rising into panic. "It's too dark I can't see much. But something's wrong with my leg, it's stuck on something, it's- I think it's bleeding."

"How bad? Stiles how bad is it?" Stiles didn't answer right away. Lydia was trying to sooth him, get him to calm down and focus on his surroundings, but of course, he couldn't actually hear her. "Stiles- are you there can you hear me?"

"There's some kind of smell down here. Something smells terrible, it's brutal my eyes are watering." Scott and Lydia had smelled the same thing when arriving here, wherever here was, and while it smelled atrocious, it wasn't bad enough to make their eyes water. Scott wondered if it was because the memory was stronger for Stiles, having been here.

"Scott" Lydia said from besides him. "I need you to focus and use your wolf eyes. Stiles has said something is wrong with his leg twice now. Can you check what it is? I still can't see anything."

Scott nodded, feeling stupid that he hadn't thought of that the second Stiles had mentioned his leg. He was getting the awful feeling that they were viewing his dream just like they had in Coaches classroom. Apart of him was reluctant to see what was happening. If this was a dream, it sure as hell didn't feel like it. But if it was, then the things here weren't actually real. Something could actually be wrong with his leg, some mental trick.

He closed his eyes, barely registering the darkness from behind his eyelids from the blackness of the room. He opened his eyes to see the room more brightly lit in red. He backed away from Stiles and looked around Lydia, to where Stiles' legs rested on the ground. Seeing what Stiles was referring to, Scott had to fight the urge to throw up where he was kneeling. Stiles foot was caught on a coyote trap. His ankle was embedded with sharp teeth that disappeared into his flesh, and there was a pool of blood was lying beneath it. He turned his eyes quickly back to normal, not wanting to see it anymore. His stomach churned dangerously and he avoided telling Lydia what he had seen. He knew his theory was right now, seeing as Stiles had never been caught in a trap, and there was no need to scare Lydia more than she already seemed to be.

"I'm going to call you right back!" Stiles was saying. He clicked _end call,_ and used the light on the phone to look at his surroundings above him, looking for a way out.

In the little light they had now, Lydia turned her face towards Scotts. "What was it? What was wrong with his leg?" Before he could even think of an answer to stall, there was another shuffling noise from behind the three of them. They all froze, listening. "Did you hear that?" Lydia whispered. Stiles was looking into the darkness, but when he didn't see anything with his shaking hands, he turned the phone around and dialed Scotts number again. "Scott what was that?" Lydia asked again, fear creeping into her voice. He slowly rose and turned around, using his wolf eyes to try and make out anything behind the furnace. When he didn't see anything, Scott knelt down again and told Lydia about his theory. They discussed the dreams meaning while Stiles talked to Scott.

"I think there's a furnace but it-it's cold. It's freezing down here. I gotta turn the-I gotta turn the phone off Scott it's going to die." Stiles was saying.

Scott was whispering his theory about dreams to Lydia, but stopped when they heard Scott ask why Stiles was whispering. Stiles took a shallow breath. "Because I think there's someone in here with me." He whispered. Only then did Scott realize him and Lydia had been whispering too. Chills went up his spine and somehow he knew that Stiles was right. They weren't alone down here.

Stiles turned on the flashlight on his phone and swung it around, the light reflecting through both Scott and Lydia before landing on his own foot. Lydia gasped and covered her mouth in horror at the sight of Stiles foot in the trap. Stiles began screaming in shock and pain and Scott turned his face away, trying to erase the image from his mind. "Scott!" Lydia scolded. "Why didn't you tell me what you saw?"

"Because like I said, this isn't real. It's a dream in his head. He didn't feel it until he saw it, and I didn't want to freak you out."

"Do you think he's really in pain? If it's a dream can it feel as painful as if it's real or do you think he screamed because of the sight of it?" Scott didn't have an answer. More shuffling sounded behind them and both Lydia and Scott whipped around.

"Who's there? I know you're there I can hear you." Stiles was saying. The light from the phone swept across the basement, finally landing on a figure with his back against the wall. Lydia gasped and grabbed Scotts shoulder. "Who are you?" Stiles asked, voice full of fear. The figure was drawing something on the wall. With one final swipe, he dropped the piece of chalk onto the floor. The light from the phone followed it as it rolled towards them. When Stiles put the light back to the wall, the figure was gone and a backwards 5 was on display, just like the ones the Oni used. From behind Scott, he heard Stiles whisper "self" and turned to look at his friend. How had he known that at the time? It was then Scott noticed that tears were running down Stiles' face. He wanted to scream at Stiles, tell him to wake up, tell him it wasn't real, but there wouldn't be a point.

By now their eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, and the sliver of moonlight shining through the window from high above gave off just enough light to make out outlines of their surroundings. Within a few minutes, Stiles' phone died, and the flashlight was useless. Stiles was screaming, trying to remove the coyote trap from his foot but his efforts were pointless. Just then, footsteps approached them. "Lydia stay close." Scott whispered, his heart rate rising.

"Who's there. WHO ARE YOU?" Stiles screamed. The figure appeared again, and Scott recognized the bandaged man from the mind games the nogitsune had played in the school. This is what he had looked like before he had taken over Stiles. The creature began answering Stiles in Japanese, as he slowly went around the room, as if circling his prey. "I don't-I don't understand."

"Not who are you Stiles." The nogitsune replied slowly in English. "Who are we?" Scott had a very bad feeling about this. "It's getting colder Stiles. Did you notice that we stopped shivering? Do you know why that's a bad sign?"

Scotts eyes were following the nogitsune, but Lydia's moved to Stiles, realizing that he had. "Scott that is not good. When a hypothermic person stops shivering, it means that all the heat is protecting the vital organs, and that his body temperature is below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. If he doesn't wake up soon and get medical attention then-" she stopped, knowing he was fine. He'd _be_ fine. She heard Stiles answer similarly to the nogitsune about hypothermia.

"…Then comes fatigue. Confusion. We're going to die if we don't get out of here."

"Stop saying that, stop saying _we_."

"Scott let's go, alright? They can't see us, and we know this isn't real. He'll be fine, why don't we try to find the real Stiles in here?" Scott looked between the nogitsune and Stiles, not wanting to leave his friend with that _thing_ , but knowing he had to find the real Stiles. Scott nodded and they made their way to the stairs.

"..freaking steel jaw trap on my leg!" Stiles was yelling.

"Is there?" It whispered "Notice something different? It was on your right leg before wasn't it?"

Scotts eyes were drawn to the trap as they descended the stairs. He heard his friend whisper. When Scott blinked, the trap was on Stiles other leg. "What is this?" he asked the nogitsune. It was then that Lydia reached the door in front of them and pushed at it, expecting the world to darken back to black, but nothing happened. "The door's not opening Scott." She whispered.

"What?" he asked, ascending to the top and trying the door himself. It didn't budge, even when he used his superhuman strength. "Maybe Stiles wants us here?" He asked Lydia.

"Why? Why here? We already tested him that's not Stiles." Scott shrugged. "Wait." Lydia said, thinking. "Maybe we can't get out of this one because it's not just a memory; It's a dream. It's like were in a pocket universe of his mind. Deeper than the memories we've been in before. Maybe at this level of the subconscious we can't move on until it's over."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay so imagine when we came in here, we descended one level right? That's where most of these memories are from. But his dreams are deeper in his mind because they didn't really happen outside of his body. It's like we descended another level. We're too deep to get out. We have to wait for this memory to finish before we can move on. We're stuck here."

"Great." They both stayed at the top of the stairs, not wanting to go back down and face that thing. Surprisingly it was Lydia who moved first. Neither of them wanted to be around the gauze covered spirit, but they also felt bad leaving Stiles alone with it, even if he couldn't see them.

"Do you know any riddles Stiles?" Stiles nodded, looking tired. "A few." He replied.

"What gets bigger the more you take away?" the nogitsune asked. "A hole."

"What gets wetter, the more it dries." "A towel."

"When is a door… Not a door." Realization dawned on Stiles' face, as well as Scott and Lydias. So they had been right. The "dream" in Coaches classroom had been the first sign of the trickster.

"When it's a jar." Stiles responded, voice shaking now with the rest of his body.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?" "I don't-" Stiles responded. The nogitsune sighed and began walking slowly towards them. Lydia inched closer to Stiles. Unconsciously seeking his comfort. "Everyone has it" it whispered "But no one can lose it. What is it Stiles?"

"I don't- I don't know." He said, fidgeting in anxiety as the nogitsune seemed to get annoyed.

"Everyone has it... but noooo one can lose it." It whispered again, creeping closer. Lydia grabbed Scotts hand, tears springing to her eyes along with Stiles. "I don't know." Stiles said, his voice hardening. And then it was screaming in Stiles face. Scott grabbed Lydia and pulled her away, hands shaking, as Stiles flinched back, terror washing through his body. The nogitsune grabbed the chain connected to the coyote trap and began dragging it to the other side of the room. Stiles screamed in surprise before screaming in anguish. " _Stiles!_ " Lydia screamed, while Scott roared and charged the nogitsune. By the time Scott even remotely close, the scene changed and they were in the middle of the woods. Stiles was on the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs as if still fighting off the nogitsune, but someone else had taken its place. " _NO! NO WAIT! WAIT! NO WAIT!"_

Lydia ran forward as Melissa tried to get her hands around Stiles, yelling at him to calm down, how he was safe. Though his eyes were open, it took a minute for Stiles to realize that he was finally awake. That he wasn't in that basement. He relaxed slightly against Melissa, but continued to shake in fear, his face betraying his terror from the experience he had just had. Scott was taking deep breaths, his adrenaline still pumping but calming down with his parents besides him. He let himself de-transform, not even realizing he had transformed in the first place. His heart was beating out of his chest, and he wasn't sure if it was fear of the monster of fear for his friend that was causing it. Stiles hadn't ever told him about the dreams. Apparently there was a lot Stiles kept from him. Being so dark outside already, Scott didn't realize the world darkening around them until it was too late. He turned to find Lydia running towards him, her hand outstretched towards his. Before he could grab it, they were gone.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews :) Enjoy! Next chapter in a couple days, I'm just finishing it today.**

CHAPTER 10

Scott blinked in surprise, immediately recognizing the Stilinski house. But it was different. The living room was painted a different color, and the picture of Stiles' mom on the mantle was gone. There seemed to be other subtle changes as Scott looked around the room, some harder to notice than others. "Lydia?" he called out. When there was no response, Scotts stomach plummeted. Why hadn't he grabbed her hand faster? Maybe they were just on opposite sides of the house, like they had been for the party. Scott ran up the stairs, yelling Lydias name, but no response came back.

He paused outside of Stiles' room, noticing the biggest difference he'd seen yet. Instead of posters lining the walls, a desk with a laptop off the side, and a clear writing board in the middle of the room for cases, Stiles' room was filled with toys. "Lydia! Lydia are you here?" He cautiously stepped inside the room, calling for Lydia again as he looked at all the things Stiles used to love. He heard a crash and jumped, before turning around and seeing a boy playing with a toy car, crashing it into another before picking up an airplane nearby. Scott smiled, seeing this innocent and carefree version of his best friend, running around holding up an airplane as he zoomed around the room. It was clearly Stiles. Same messy brown hair, mischievous brown eyes, and the same goofy grin.

He was younger than when Scott had seen him in the hospital, maybe four or five. Lost in the moment, Scott forgot about everything else as he watched his best friend zoom around his room in a hyperactive state. This must have been before they figured out he had ADHD, because he clearly had even more energy than most five year olds have. Stiles was bouncing off the walls, switching toys constantly, in the span of just a few minutes. Car to truck, truck to plane, plane to army men, army men to GI joe, and then back to the plane. Little Stiles seemed to bore of his room and decided to fly his plane elsewhere, zooming past Scott and towards the stairs.

Scott saw what was about to happen a split second before it did. There was a part of the rug that was uneven, as if someone had lifted it ever so slightly. Concentrating on his airplane, Stiles didn't see it and tripped; but he was dangerously close to the stairs already. Scott, who had followed him out, yelled out and went to grab him before he fell, but his hand went right through the boys. Stiles gasped, and Scott saw his eyes widen in surprise as he went flying and began toppling down the stairs. "No!" Scott screamed, eyes wide in shock as he watched helplessly. Scott heard a sickening crack as Stiles landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

Stiles' screams were horrible, and Scott flinched as he ran down the steps. From somewhere in the house, footsteps quickly approached. Scott didn't notice where they were coming from, his attention fixed on his best friend who had tears running down his face. "Stiles!" he heard a woman's voice yell, and then Claudia Stilinski was kneeling next to Scott and her son. "Oh my God" She exclaimed, seeing Stiles's arm twisted at an odd angle. Her hands were shaking as she stroked his hair, trying to calm him down and hide the panic in her eyes as she saw his arm, as well as the small amount of blood producing from his head.

"Mommy, it hurts!" Stiles was screaming.

"Shhhh I know baby, I know. I'm going to get the phone and call daddy alright? Don't move sweetie, you're going to be fine. We'll get you a ride in one of those ambulances you love so much, okay? They'll probably even turn on the sirens just for you!" She stood up and got the home phone nearby, rushing back to her son on the floor before he could register her disappearance. Scott saw her dial 911, holding the phone to her ear.

"Yes hi, my son just fell down the stairs, I think his arm is broken, I don't want to move it. Yes. Yes he seems to have also hit his head. Please hurry. Yes. Thank you." She hung up the phone and dialed another number.

"Honey it's me. Stiles had an accident. He fell down the stairs- yes I did, they're on the way. How do you think, he's four years old and in pain!" Claudia closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I'm just freaking out here. No-No It's alright I'll just meet you there. Okay. I love you, bye." Claudia hung up the phone, and placed her hand on Stiles' face, wiping his tears. Stiles was no longer screaming, but the tears had yet to stop.

Claudia was kneeling again at the bottom of the stairs, stroking Stiles's hair gently and singing to him, trying her best to distract him as they waited for the ambulance. At the sound of his mother's voice, Stiles visibly calmed down a fraction, finding comfort in the lyrics. Scott looked at Mrs. Stilinski, recognizing the tune, but he couldn't remember from where. He looked at this strong woman, comparing her to the woman he'd seen at the hospital. They were practically two different people. It was hard to believe this caring mother who was comforting her son with such care would one day attack him, thinking he would harm her. Scott swallowed a lump in his throat knowing that the woman he saw before him probably didn't have all that many years left as herself, before the dementia would take over.

Scott started pacing, waiting for his enhanced hearing to pick up the first sign of a siren. Why did all of these memories revolve around Stiles being in trouble or almost dying? Scott stopped pacing. Wait. Why _were_ all these memories revolved around Stiles in trouble? He ran through everything he'd seen so far and nodded to himself. Not one revolved around a happy memory. He'd have to get Lydias opinion as soon as- Lydia. Where was she? He ran through the house, yelling for her. When no one replied, he was conflicted. Should he move to the next memory and try to find her? Or stay in case she was here somewhere?

Scott rubbed his hands over his eyes. If she wasn't here, then she was out there somewhere. Scott nodded to himself. Now he had two objectives. Find Stiles, and find Lydia. He ran out the front door and away from the house, world dimming. Just as he saw an ambulance round the corner, everything went black.

…

When Lydia looked around, the woods were gone. In its place was the hospital morgue. Melissa McCall was standing next to one of two bodies, covering it up as she talked with Stiles. Lydia looked around the room. "Scott?" she called out. A bad feeling was forming in her gut. "Scott!" When there was no reply, she cursed. They'd gotten separated. The one thing they were trying to avoid. How was she supposed to find him now?

"…maybe this is just one murder? I mean it's some random coincidence?" Stiles was saying. Lydia looked closer at the body and gagged at the boys injuries. It didn't help that she recognized him. This was the guy she'd found dead near the pool. Back before she knew it was the banshee part of her that lead to her finding bodies.

Melissa was shaking her head. "I don't think it was just one."

"How come?"

"Because that girl over there? She's got the exact same injuries." Stiles' eyes raised. Melissa lead the way to the next table over, where a body lay on a similar steel table covered in a white sheet. Carefully, Melissa grabbed the edges of the sheet and pulled it down over the body, exposing the girls head and shoulders. Lydia looked away, unsure of how respectful it was. Although she was used to seeing bodies by now, it wasn't exactly something she enjoyed dealing with. Something about this memory nagged at Lydia. Like she should remember something about it. She looked back at the corpse, but didn't recognize her.

She probably shouldn't stay. She should be looking for Scott and Stiles in here. She went to turn towards the door before she remembered she hadn't tried to touch Stiles. When she turned her head and looked at him, she was surprised to find tears in his eyes. Oh God. He knew her. He knew the dead girl. Stiles was taking a step back from the body, shock and grief on his face.

"The M.E. said this one wasn't just strangled. Whoever did it used a gratin which is a stick that you put through the rope and you just kind of keep twisting." Stiles was silent. The memory clicked for Lydia. This was his friend, one of the first sacrifices. What was her name? Haley? Holland? Hannah? Lydia remembered Scott telling her about Stiles theory, and how he'd found his friend that had gone missing. She'd felt bad for him, but he'd acted normal, as if everything was fine.

"Stiles?" Melissa was asking, turning to face him. Seeing the look on his face, hers immediately turned to surprise and pity. "Oh my God did you know her?" Melissa asked. Stiles didn't say anything, just nodded, face frozen in shocked distress. He didn't look at Melissa. "I'm so sorry." Melissa whispered, quickly putting the white sheet back over her body. "Didn't even think." She covered her mouth with her fist, unsure what else to say.

"It was uh… I was at her party." Stiles' eyes were filling up, and Lydia found herself wanting to hug him, eager to be able to talk to him, eager to see him look at her again. She missed her friend, and she hated all these stupid memories in his mind, all these times he was heartbroken or scared. He didn't deserve that. "It was her birthday. Her name was Heather." With that his tears spilled over, and he quickly wiped them away on his sweater sleeve. _Heather_ Lydia remembered, and went to touch his hand, but surprise surprise, their hands didn't connect. The morgue was starting to dim.

"Okay we need to call your father because you're a witness…" Melissa was saying, but Lydia was no longer paying attention. She instinctively reached out a hand to grab Scotts before remembering they'd been separated. "Damn it" she said, knowing now she had two people to find. By the time she was done rolling her eyes, she was back at the High School.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading. Don't worry, I wont keep Scott and Lydia away from each other for _too_ long. Thank you for the reviews I got, it's nice to hear your thoughts. Enjoy and please review!**

CHAPTER 11

Scott was on his fifth memory since being separated from Lydia. After leaving the Stilinski house, he'd arrived back at the school parking lot, long enough to hear himself scream like a dying cat through the speakers, wincing as he remembered his first "roar". He stayed long enough to test Stiles and search the school for Lydia, yelling for her as he ran down the vacant hallways. He only panicked once, as he came face to face with Peter in his full alpha form. He'd forgotten how intimidating he'd been before he'd died and lost some of his power. When the monstrous wolf had leapt through him, Scott had come back to reality and remembered it wasn't real, letting his own red eyes turn back to brown. As his past self and Stiles ran for their lives, Scott exited the school and ran towards the cars, the world growing dimmer. He didn't need to see this memory; he'd lived through it. He had to find his friends.

Scott had blinked, and opened his eyes to find himself in Stiles jeep, driving through a harsh storm. Before he could contemplate what was happening, Stiles had swerved, a tree coming out of nowhere. Scott felt the crash and threw himself forward to catch himself. He heard his wrist break on the dashboard as it snapped back, stopping his momentum. He's screamed in pain, righted his wrist, and waited a minute as it had healed. He had panicked when he'd seen Stiles unconscious next to him, blood seeming from a gash in his head, matching a crack in the windshield. As much as he wanted to stay until his brother came to, he was afraid that the longer he went without finding Lydia, the harder it would be to get to the same memory. So he'd kept moving.

He'd watched as his friends face transformed into a look of horror and desperation as he watched his dad attacked by Matt in the station, unable to move in his partially paralyzed state. He remembered the conversation they'd had about it at the lacrosse game the next night. About little he could help, how he couldn't do what Scott did, how helpless he'd felt. Guilt had ripped through him as he left his friend paralyzed on the ground, exiting the station to the next memory.

And here he was, thrown back into the dark, except this time, it wasn't silent. He could hear someone crying nearby, and someone else moving their hands against a wall nearby as if looking for a light switch. Scott blinked rapidly when the light in the center of the room switched on. His eyes widened at the sight of Erica and Boyd hanging from their tied hands, mouths covered in duct tape, with what appeared to be electrical wires attached to them. Tears were formed in Ericas eyes, and Scotts heart went out to them, not knowing how long they'd been here.

Given the circumstances, Scott was surprised to find himself slightly happy. Even though they certainly had their differences, towards the end, he had been friends with both of them. In a way, it hurt to see them, grief he hadn't known he had shone through. Almost as if it seeing them here confirmed that this chapter of his life had happened. Reminded him of those he had lost. Though he hated seeing them being tied up and in pain, Scott still preferred it to seeing their bodies devoid of life. Stiles rushed through Scott, and he shivered. He didn't think he'd ever get used to that. Stiles ran towards Erica first, and reached his hands up to unbind her hands. As soon as he reached for the binds, Erica started squirming, yelling incomprehensibly behind her gag.

"Shhhh!" Stiles said, putting his finger up to his mouth. He reached up and grabbed her binds, but the wires sparked, and the lights flickered. Stiles grabbed his hand back in a flash, crying out in pain. The door leading to the basement swung open and feet appeared.

"They were trying to warn you, it's electrified" _Gerard,_ Scott remembered. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. He continued down the stairs, face coming into view with a smug grin on his face. Scott barely controlled his urge to punch him in his stupid wrinkly face.

"What are you doing with them?" Stiles inquired.

"At the moment, just keeping them comfortable." Gerard said casually, like he did this every day. For all they knew, he did. "There's no point torturing him, they won't give Derek up. The instinct to protect their Alpha is too strong."

Scott knew he had to go, find Lydia, find Stiles. That was the mantra he'd repeated to himself over and over. But he was again reluctant to leave, curious about what had happened next. He knew he'd never gone looking for Stiles- Derek had caught him off guard with the whole "My uncle the psychotic killer who turned you into a werewolf and tried to get you to kill all your friends miraculously came back to life" thing.

"Okay," Stiles said, "So what are you doing with me?" He looked nervous, so Stiles did what he always does when he feels nervous or threatened- he started talking. "Because Scott can find me alright? He knows my scent. It's pungent, you know? It's more like a stench. He could find me even if I were buried in the bottom of a sewer covered in fecal matter, and urine-" Scott looked at Stiles, grossed out, but guilt gnawed at him. He'd never even really tried looking for Stiles. After Derek showed up he was forced to put the search for Stiles on the back burner. And yet during that time, that same person he should have been looking for had complete faith that he would find him, and soon. Gerard stepped closer to Stiles.

"You have a knack of painting a vivid picture Mr. Stilinski; let me paint one of my own. Scott McCall finds his best friend bloodied and beaten to a pulp, how does that sound now?" Stiles blinked in uncertainty, but he hid it well and went back to his usual line of defense. "I think I might prefer more of a still life, or a landscape, you know?" he said, keeping his ground against Gerard who was now very close to him.

There was a dare on Stiles' face, and Scott could tell that Gerard didn't like the look of it at all. After all, Argents were always the ones installing fear, they were the family creatures ran away from. The family legends were written about. And yet here was a 17 year old kid fitted in high school lacrosse gear, a regular human, daring him to keep his word. But after all, when was an Argent afraid of getting their hands a little dirty? Gerard's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and Scott saw the defiance still stuck on his friends face.

Scott remembered what Stiles had looked like after this encounter, and instinctively said "Stiles…" in his warning voice, forgetting once again that whatever he said didn't actually matter. No one could hear him.

"What, what are you 90?" Stiles asked, "Look I can probably kick your ass up and down this room-" As soon as Stiles had gotten the last word out, Gerard had lifted his hand and back handed Stiles so hard, that his momentum was thrown and Stiles crashed to the ground. Scott moved to help, before stopping himself. He couldn't do anything but watch helplessly as Gerard flipped Stiles onto his back and reared back his hand. "Okay. Whoa whoa whoa." He said at the fury in the old man's face.

Gerards fist landed on Stiles jaw, causing his head to snap back, and Scott flinched. The oldest Argent reached back his fist and hit Stiles again, delivering blow after blow into Stiles face. Scott began backing up to the stairs, not wanting to see anymore. He turned around and began to ascend, hearing the blows continue. Scot began to climb. He glanced back and for a second Scott could have sworn Stiles saw him. He didn't seem to look through him, bur directly at him. Scott froze, but and watched as Stiles' face went slack, falling unconscious after one final punch. As soon as his friends' eyes closed, Scott shook it off and continued up the stairs. He couldn't be seen by anyone but the real Stiles, and he'd already tested that one. Time to move on. Darkness descended like a tidal wave, and he was gone.

…

Lydia was focused on one thing. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself. She needed to find her friends. But it was hard to walk away from some of the memories Stiles seemed to send her way. The first one she saw after the morgue was the panic attack Scott had told her about. She'd come out of the darkness into a classroom with Stiles at the front. When she'd looked over his shoulder at the words literally falling off the page, she'd known something was terribly wrong. She'd followed the boys into the bathroom, and watched Stiles loose it. She saw how convinced he was that he was just in a dream, convinced that reality _was_ the illusion. She saw his fear that he was losing his mind, and was once again drawn to him, desperately wanting to tell him that he was going to be okay, that he'd be fine, even though it'd be a lie. When tears had started to form in her eyes for her friend who didn't understand what was happening to him, she had turned and left the room, allowing herself to fall into the next memory.

She'd come out from the school and into Eichen house, now officially her least favorite place in the world. She'd watched as Stiles climbed the stairs with an orderly. She'd seen how his eyes were drawn upwards at the sound of mutterings. She raced with him up the stairs as he screamed for someone, anyone to stop what was happening. For someone to get to the patient who was tightening a noose around his neck. She raced up the steps with him, knowing in her gut that they wouldn't get there in time. She screamed as the man jumped, legs dangling next to them, seeing tears form in Stiles eyes at not being able to save someone else. While her eyes were stuck on the body, she noticed Stiles' head looking down into the sea of people who had come to see what all the commotion was. He was staring steadily at something and she followed his eyes to see the nogisune lurking at the bottom of the steps. _Nope_. She thought. She did not want another encounter with that thing any time soon. She was trapped, not wanting to get away up the stairs towards the body, but not wanting to descend towards the trickster. Lydia leaned back against the banister, arms crossed, and waited for the institution to dim around her. She was eager to get out of the institution; when it came, she welcomed the darkness.

She'd come through the other side here. The same place everything had begun- back at the hospital. She was right outside of a hospital room, and peeked inside. It took her a second to recognize the person in the bed. The last time she'd seen her, she had been on the roof, attacking her own son. Claudia Stilinski did not look good. Her skin was pale and she was eerily still. Lydia watched as she began to stir, looking like the action of waking up was in itself strenuous. She looked down to her side closest to the door, and for the first time Lydia saw Stiles hunched over his mother's bed, facing away from her. She tensed, worried that Mrs. Stilinski would once again reject her son, but instead she began running her hands through Stiles's hair affectionately. Stiles looked up, big brown eyes staring at her face in desperation, hoping to see recognition.

"Mom?" he asked. His voice was raspy from sleep. Lydia moved from the door over towards the mother and son. She noticed very faint scratch marks on 10 year old Stiles' face, matching the small traces of yellow in his skin where the last remaining sign of bruises were fading. The outburst she'd seen before must have only been a week or two before hand. Stiles' mother seemed to have deteriorated severely in that time.

"Hey baby." Claudia said, staring at her son with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Stiles. I'm so sorry I forgot you again. How could I forget you?" She said, voice catching.

"It's okay mom, I understand. I know you'll forget me again soon, so I just want to tell you I love you." Stiles said, wiping the tiredness out of his eyes before turning back to his mother and drinking in her face. Lydia stood next to Stiles, testing him, but felt the urgent need to leave. She felt like she was intruding on a very personal moment with his mother.

Claudia smiled at him. "I love you too. Come here." She reached out her arms and Stiles practically jumped into them, eager for his mom to hold him while she remembered who he was again- even if it didn't last long. She began humming to him, and he sat back in his chair, listening to her as he held her hand. She closed her eyes, still humming, and squeezed her sons hand. Stiles smiled, and Lydia looked at it with surprise. It was only then that she realized she hadn't seen Stiles smile in weeks. Not since before the attack, before the comatose state he'd worn for week, and certainly not once in this whole sequence of nightmares. Though Lydia had been on her way out of the room, she turned back now, and stared at this child version of her best friend. He may have been younger, but him smile was the same. She'd missed his smile. She'd missed his laugh, his snarky comments. A dull ache began in her heart. She wanted Stiles back- the real Stiles. Lost in thought, Lydia didn't notice when Claudia Stilinski stopped humming, but she did notice when the monitors began emitting alarms.

Stiles was yelling. "Mom? Mom?! HELP! Somebody help me! Mom! Mom, wake up, please wake up. _Mom!_ You have to wake up!" Nurses fled into the room, and Lydia gasped as one of them ran through her to get to Stiles. She looked at the heart monitor, and noticed it was a flat line across the screen. The nurse closest to Stiles was trying to calm him down, but the more she tried, the more wild Stiles got. A fourth nurse ran into the room, and helped to drag Stiles out of the room.

"Mrs McCall?" Lydia asked, recognizing the latest nurse in the room. When the two nurses got Stiles out of the room, it was Melissa who stayed and tried to reason with Stiles. She was apologizing, telling him that his mom was gone. When reality sunk in for Stiles, he stopped screaming and went very still. His eyes welled up and spilled over, but he didn't move. He stood there as Melissa called out to him again and again, and though his eyes finally looked into hers, he still stood frozen in the hallway. Melissa looked behind her to the nurses in the room just beyond.

"Hey. Hey look at me. Can you tell me your name hon?" Melissa asked the boy. Stiles was shifting his eyes between the doorway to his mother's room, and the nurse who kept demanding his attention.

"St-Stiles." He said, voice wavering.

"Stiles?" Melissa said, looking at him questioningly. She looked like she wanted to ask, afraid she'd misheard, but when Stiles nodded, she went with it. Stiles was wiping his nose on his sweater sleeve.

"Okay Stiles, come on." She said, leading heartbroken little Stiles down the hall. "I'm going to bring you to the waiting room while I call your dad okay?" Only when she began following them did Lydia realize that she was crying. She was having a hard time seeing the hallway in front of her, but followed the vague outlines of Melissa and Stiles to the waiting room, where Stiles sat down obediently and put his head in his hands. He didn't move again, just stayed there as if in shock. Lydia had already tested him, but found herself on her knees in front of him, trying to grab his hand and comfort him in any way possible.

She began thinking of all the times she'd been at a loss for what to do, and Stiles had been there for her. When she'd thought Jackson had died, when she'd almost gotten her foot caught in a coyote trap, when she saw Aiden lying dead in his brothers arms, and most recently, getting her out of Eichen house. Stiles was always there for her when she needed him. All she wanted right now was to do the same to him. To be there for him. She knew she didn't even have to say anything, not that he'd hear her anyways-but she didn't want him to be alone right now. So she stayed kneeling on the ground until she saw Mr. Stilinski run into the hospital and pause at his sons face, before walking slowly towards him and embracing him in a firm hug as Stiles broke down.

Lydia wiped her eyes, stood up, and looked once more at her friend, before turning back and walking out of the hospital. The world began to darken soon afterwards, and Lydia began walking faster, now eager to get away. She didn't look back as the darkness swirled around her, but instead closed her eyes in waiting. When she opened them, she was standing next to a school bus in the parking lot of a hotel.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hope you guys like the story so far. Thanks for the reviews it means a lot! Since season 5B is still airing right now (Holy s**t last nights episode was amazing right?!), and I started writing this between "Damnatio Memoriae" and "Codominance", some of the newer things in tail end of the season may make some things inaccurate for some scenes in this fic. Hope you like the new chapter. Please review :)**

CHAPTER 12

Scott was in the tunnels. He recognized it immediately. This is where they'd found Lydia when she'd been kidnapped by the nogitsune. This was where Allison had died. He noticed three figures coming into view, running towards him. Stiles, Lydia, and Scott emerged from the shadows, and he ducked out of the way to let them pass. It was weird seeing a version of Lydia that couldn't see him. His gut twisted with disappointment. He was glad she'd decided to come into Stiles' mind with him, but now she was lost somewhere in here without him and he found himself missing her company. If he had to see all these awful memories of Stiles, it was nice to have a friend to count on. Ahead of Scott, he saw Stiles struggle to keep up. Scott followed behind at a distance, while his past self was well ahead of the other two by now.

Stiles stumbled and called out to Lydia. "I can't-" he said, leaning against the wall desperately. Lydia immediately turned around and tried to support him as he slumped against the wall. Ahead of them, past Scott continued on, not realizing that they'd fallen behind. Present Scott had run up as soon as he saw Stiles stumble. He knew that his past self was desperate to get to the scene of all the commotion he was hearing. He watched helplessly as Stiles slid down the wall, Lydia's efforts not quite enough to keep him upright. He seemed to be struggling to stay conscious and Scott couldn't help but hover a bit too close in worry.

He knew he should move on but couldn't bring himself to follow his past self out of the tunnels. He knew if he did, he might see Allison's death again. It wasn't guaranteed, seeing as Stiles hadn't seen it, but he certainly had. He had no desire to even take a chance at seeing it again. So he stayed and watched as Lydia called out to Stiles in a desperate attempt to keep him conscious. He waited and watched as it failed, and Stiles' arms fell to his side, and his eyes closed. With his sheet white face and deep bags under his eyes, Stiles looked dead. It disturbed Scott, but not as much as it did when Lydia suddenly turned to look down the hallway, and screamed Allison's name. Scotts stomach churned as he heard the banshees scream, knowing what had just happened. The world went dark, and he was somewhere else.

...

Scott didn't really know where he was. It looked vaguely familiar and he got an unsettling feeling as he stood at the top of the steps of what appeared to be a hotel. Stiles, Lydia, and Allison began descending the stairs, Stiles passing right through him. _Well that answers one question_ , Scott thought in disappointment. He was so sick of failing to find his best friend. It was beginning to feel hopeless. He felt like a failure; he couldn't find Stiles, and he'd lost Lydia. He felt like it had been hours since he'd seen her. But then again time didn't really seem to be a construct in here.

"Didn't you say there was another flare on the bus?" Lydia was asking Stiles.

"Yeah I'll go get it." He responded, but then immediately slowed down, drinking in the sight before all of them. Another Scott was in the middle of the parking lot, soaking wet in what appeared to be gasoline, and holding the last lit flare from the school bus. Scott's eyes widened. He remembered this now, but from his viewpoint, it had always been a bit of a blur to him. The wolfs bane that he'd been poisoned with had caused all of the wolves that had been on the school bus to try and commit suicide, but by the next day, none of them could remember it all that clearly. It had been like a dream, and he'd snapped out of it when an explosion had gone off near them. He'd come to on the ground in a mess of limbs with his friends.

Allison, Stiles, and Lydia circled around him cautiously, not taking their eyes off of him. "Scott?" Allison asked, voice filled with panic and fear. Slowly, the drenched Scott raised his eyes to his friends momentarily before lowering them again. Scott walked over from the stairs, staring at the scene before him, letting his eyes dart to Allison last. Just like with Boyd and Erica, the sight of her filled him with both joy and grief.

"There's no hope" past Scott was saying, and Scott looked up at himself, his words ringing true for what he'd been feeling just a moment ago.

"What do you mean Scott?" Allison whispered, eyes filling to the brim. "There's always hope." Stiles and Lydia stood just behind her, their eyes mirroring Allison's as tears formed in fear for their friend, their shock dissolving into a cautiousness.

"Not for me. Not for Derek." Scott continued.

"Derek wasn't your fault. You know Derek wasn't your fault." Allison was saying.

"Every time I try to fight back, it just gets worse, people keep getting hurt. People keep getting killed."

Stiles stepped forward. "Scott listen to me okay? This isn't you. Alright? It's someone inside your head telling you to do this. Okay, now-"

"What if it isn't? What if doing this is actually the best thing that I could do for everyone else? It all started that night. The night I got bitten." Past Scott was still looking at the ground, almost afraid to look at his friends. "Do you remember the way it was before that? You and me- we were nothing. We weren't popular. We weren't good at lacrosse. We weren't important."

Scott couldn't help but wonder why he was here. Why this memory? So far it had been memories where Stiles was in trouble, memories where Stiles was being hurt in some way. Wasn't this more of a bad memory for Scott? He turned his eyes to his best friend and noticed that Stiles had a tear streaming down his face. His face was resolved and he was blinking away his hurt and fear.

"We were no one." Scott was saying.

"Scott!" Lydia screamed. She sounded panicked but somehow there was also relief in her voice. Scott looked over to her in confusion, but she still had the same expression as she had had on before. She didn't even look like she'd said anything, and certainly didn't look like she was about to say anything more. Scott looked at her in confusion. "Scott! Scott over here! _Scott!"_ Scott had been looking right at Lydia, and she hadn't uttered a thing. The voice sounded a bit further away too. His eyes widened, looking around desperately. Lydia was running at full speed towards him from behind the bus, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"Maybe I should just be no one again." He heard himself say from behind him.

"Lydia?" He whispered. "Lydia!" And then he was running towards her. They met half way and she ran into his arms. He hugged her tightly before letting her go and beaming down at her.

"About time!" She yelled at him. "I've been looking for you forever! You would NOT believe what I just had to witness, it was horrible. I was starting to think I'd never find you in here."

"Yeah same, I was worried. How long have you been here?"

"I came through behind the bus. When I recognized what I was seeing, I started walking away to get to the next memory, but something told me to look back. That's when I saw a second you. I couldn't believe it. By the way? For having super hearing, you really are deaf when you're not really focusing." She said, rolling her eyes. They had unconsciously walked back their past selves, Stiles, and Allison. "I hate this memory. You really freaked us out."

"Yeah but that's what I don't get, why this memory? Everything I've seen so far has been based around bad events revolving around Stiles, but this one revolves more around me."

Lydia stared at Scott. "Are you serious? I mean you were the one who almost offed yourself because of the wolfs bane, but you almost took Stiles with you. Don't you remember?"

Scotts widened in shock. "No, it was all sort of a blur. I didn't really want you guys to relive it, and I was kind of embarrassed so I never asked about it."

Lydia slapped his arm. "Well then watch. No matter how 'embarrassing' it is. He turned his head towards the scene before him and watched from just outside the puddle of fuel between him and his best friend as Stiles began walking towards his gasoline drenched self.

"… You're not no one okay? You're someone." Stiles was talking to him with determination, tears falling down his face. "Scott, you're my best friend. Okay, and I need you." Stiles was taking slow, cautious steps toward Scott. "Scott you're my brother. Alright so-." Stiles took another step forward, and into the puddle of gasoline at Scotts feet.

"No no no no no." Scott was whispering next to Lydia. She noticed Scott's hands tense into fists and he began rocking on his feet, automatically itching to protect his friend. Her eyes quickly returned to the scene before her. She knew how this ended, and yet she couldn't tear her eyes away.

"So if you're going to do thing" Stiles said, placing his hand on the flare just over Scott's. "Then you're just going to have to take me with you." He said, acceptance and determination plaguing his features. Scott looked around at his friends faces while Past Scott began crying, not willing to sacrifice his best friend. Allison had her hand over her mouth in worry and fear, while Lydia looked at a loss for words, worry plaguing her features for her two friends in such grave danger. Real Scott breathed a sigh of relief as Stiles gently took the flare away from Scott and threw it away from them and onto the pavement just out of reach of the gasoline. While everyone's eyes were on Scott and Stiles, it was only past and present Lydia that saw the flare caught by the wind, rolling back into the petrol. As soon as it hit the fuel, fire began spreading through the gasoline towards Scott and Stiles.

"NO!" Lydia screamed, running towards the boys.

" _Stiles_!" Present Scott said from next to Lydia. When he began running forward, Lydia grabbed onto his arm and yanked him back. "Scott Stop! Stop."

Allison immediately began running out of the way while Stiles grabbed onto Scott just as Lydia tackled them to the ground outside of the oil puddle. The explosion that ensued was large, and they had no idea how it failed to alert anyone with the noise.

Meanwhile, off to the side, Scott and Lydia had turned away from the heat as part of the parking lot went up in flames. When they turned back, they saw the hooded figure of the durach inside the fire. When she disappeared, both their eyes fell upon the fallen teens.

"He was- going to sacrifice himself with me? That doesn't make sense, we would have burned alive. That's like the worst possible way to die…" Scott said.

"He wasn't going to watch you die Scott. We all know you two are basically brothers. It makes sense doesn't it?" Lydia asked. "Scott you'd do the same thing for him. That's why it's a bad memory for Stiles. He almost lost you. He saw someone get in your head and make you want to take your own life. That's like, his worst nightmare. Maybe why that's why he let us both come here. It was a strong memory for him." Scott looked at the ground before nodding, a lump in his throat. It was defining times like this that made Scott regret dragging Stiles into this life. Into all this danger that made him almost sacrifice himself. Scott knew he'd be devastated if anything happened to Stiles. He wouldn't be able to live with it. Not wanting to think of the possibility, Scott turned his attention to his friends on the ground.

Lydia was laying on top of Stiles protectively, a single tear cascading down her cheek as she stared at the place the durach had just been. Stiles was staring at Scott, seeing if he was alright, while Scott appeared to be looking around in confusion. Allison began helping Scott up, asking if he was alright.

"Yeah I'm fine. What's going on? I- I don't-" Scott was saying, looking over at the dwindling fire. Stiles was still on the ground under Lydia, who was still staring at the place where the hooded figure had just been.

"Uh, Lydia?" Stiles asked. "Do you mind just uh, I mean-" Lydias eyes widened as she realized she was still on top of Stiles.

"Oh! Yeah-sorry." She said, standing up and walking over to check on Scott, her cheeks red. From the side lines, Lydia raised her hand over her eyes in embarrassment as Scott looked over with an arched eyebrow and a smile, tension now gone with their friends safe.

She glanced over at Scott as the area began to dim, and grabbed his hand quickly. They'd just found each other again in Stiles' head, they were _not_ going to get separated again. Scott was still staring at her so she slapped his arm. "Shut up Scott." She said. He burst out laughing, and they were gone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, three or four of you requested this chapter, but I wanted to wait until now to write/release it. Hope you guys like it. Someone asked if I plan to finish this fic because they liked it so just so you're all aware, I have every intention of writing this story to completion. I already have an ending in mind but I write chapter by chapter so it's not set in stone** **. I can't see this fic being any less than 20 chapters and will probably be a bit more than that. Stay tuned and hope you like it! Please review :)**

 **...**

CHAPTER 13

Scott and Lydia were in back in the basement where the nogitsine had taken Stiles in his dreams. Scott swore upon seeing it. "How many times did Stiles dream about being here?" he asked rhetorically. At least this time there was a bit more light shining in the room.

Lydia cleared her throat uncomfortably "I don't think he was dreaming this time." Scott looked over in the direction Lydia was trying not to look at. Stiles was on a couch nearby lying down with Malia in his arms. "That was- great." Stiles was saying, smile playing over his face as he lay back, calmly enjoying the moment. The two were holding hands, Stiles stroking her thumb with his own. Malia looked at him and laughed, smile staying on her face. She nestled into him a bit more and looked at him again. Her eyes were on his lips, and she turned away with a smile on her face.

Across the room, Scott's eyebrows were practically disappearing into his hairline. Lydia was looking around the basement, her eyes never straying near Stiles and Malia as she ran her fingers over the dusty cabinet next to her as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. From what she'd seen in Malia's face a second ago, Lydia realized she'd never seen her this shy. This happy. It was unsettling.

"Oh. Not a dream then." Scott said, sounding slightly uncomfortable and a bit proud. "I mean I know his first time was with Malia, but I didn't know it was in here. I thought it was when Malia started sneaking into his bed every night." He was saying quietly to himself. As much as he had hated it, he'd gotten used to being alone in these memories, so he didn't realize he'd talked aloud and that someone could now hear him until Lydia spoke up. "Well that's interesting and everything, but what do you mean 'in here', where are we?" she snapped. Scott jumped and looked over to Lydia in surprise. He blushed. "Sorry I didn't mean to say that out loud. Just uh, just forget I said-" Lydia raised her eyebrows at him. "Uh never mind. Anyways, I didn't recognize it before, but look at what they're wearing; standard basic clothes, no shoes with laces. They pretty much match. We're in Eichen house. When Stiles checked himself in to protect us."

"Wait a minute… Wait if this is Eichen house then- does that mean in a way, I was right?"

"What do you mean?"

"After Stiles went missing, I used the strings in his room to find him remember? I lead you and his dad here- to Eichen house. It was my biggest failure since discovering what I was. I was convinced he was here. I was so sure! But when we got here, he wasn't anywhere. I started second guessing myself because I'd been _so sure._ And I'd been wrong. But if that other memory was real, then the nogitsune did bring him to Eichen house. It was just in his mind. So- I was right."

Scott smiled. "Of course, that makes sense. You figured it out, just not in the way we expected you to." Lydia bit her lip, but Scott could tell she was just a bit proud of herself. Then her face twisted into confusion and she looked up at Scott. "Speaking of memories, what did you see when we were separated?"

Scott was distracted, checking back on the couch as Malia looked over at the far wall. "Stiles…" Malia said, getting up and walking to the far wall. Stiles followed her to the other end of the basement, walking right past them and towards the back wall where the nogitsune had drawn the backwards 5 in chalk. What lay there instead was the same symbol, this one carved into the steel. Malia tapped at it, hearing that it was a hollow wall. She looked back at Stiles "Do you hear that?"

Stiles looked around the room, gaze falling on a pipe nearby. Malia got out of the way as Stiles began hammering through the wall. Scott lead Lydia further away from them so he could hear her and began telling her everything he saw. "The hardest one to watch was Gerard. Boyd and Erica were taken prisoner there and Stiles-. Gerard beat him bloody and I couldn't do anything but watch. I wasn't there for him. I didn't even look for him when he was missing." Scott said, looking towards the Stiles currently hacking through the wall as if in a daze.

"You're here for him now. That's what counts. We're here to get him back." Scott swallowed before nodding and looking back at her.

"What about you, what did you see?"

Lydia told him about the memories she'd gone through, but her voice kept catching when she told him about Stiles mom. "Scott you should have heard him when she… he just kept screaming for her to wake up. The nurses had to drag him out. One of them was your mom by the way. It was the first time they met, did you know that?" Scott shook his head. "She was the one to get Stiles to calm down. She led him to the waiting room while she called his dad. He just sat there with his head in his hands."

Scott ran his hands through his hair. "Jeez" He said, before taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly. He sat there for a minute thinking about what it must have been like for Stiles, to watch his mother die, to be alone in that moment with her, and what it must have been like for Lydia to see something so personal and being able to do nothing to comfort him. Just when he remembered to ask Lydia something, a new figure descended the stairs quietly. Stiles was done hammering at the wall and him and Malia were talking quietly. Neither of them noticed the new arrival, but Lydia certainly did. She also saw the taser gun he was holding. She stepped around Scott and walked cautiously over to Stiles. The guy stepped behind Stiles, and put the taser to his side. Stiles grunted in pain as he spasmed to the ground. Malia turned around and looked at the new arrival with caution and anger.

"You took Brunski's keys." He said, turning his attention to Stiles. "I took his stun gun." Malia took a step back, and the kid leapt into action, electrocuting Malia right in the stomach. Lydia looked back to see if Scott was seeing this and found him right behind her. Malia slid down to the floor. "I also got his Haldol." He said, injecting a syringe into Malias leg. Almost immediately, she slumped forward, sedated. Scotts mouth dropped open in surprise. He looked over at Lydia. "Who the hell _is_ this guy?" he asked.

"It's like I was saying Stiles. I heard they used to do trepanation here." Lydia shuttered, unconsciously touching a spot on her head that was still sore, hair just starting to grow over the scab. She was brought back to the feeling of the drill, the blood on her hair, her need to scream. She closed her eyes, willing the memories away.

"Oliver" Stiles said, struggling to get the words out as his nerves convulsed. "What are you doing?" Oliver reached behind him and picked up a drill, turning around and coming closer and closer to Stiles. Lydia took a slow step away from him.

"I'm gonna let the evil spirits out." He said, and started the drill. Stiles shook with fear as Oliver approached him. He let the drill stop, looked at Stiles, and whipped the edge of the drill into Stiles' head. Lydia screamed as Stiles instantly slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"Holy!" Lydia screamed.

Anger was displayed clearly on Scott's face. "What the fuck dude?" he asked, not caring if he couldn't hear them. Oliver began getting Stiles off the floor and tying him to a nearby chair, using the restraints from the facility. When he was done, he did the same to Malia. Then he sat down and waited.

"Scott, did Malia tell you about this?"

Scott shook his head. "She just said Stiles' roommate in here knocked them out, but when she came to, he was unconscious and Stiles just glanced at her and walked away, leaving her tied to the chair. She was pissed until she realized what must have happened. She had to wait for Oliver to wake up and have a melt down before any help was alerted."

"So what happened while she was out? Is this when the nogitsune took over?" Lydia asked, shivering. Scott was brought back to the night he'd raced to Eichen house to try and stop Mr. Stilinski from putting Stiles in here. How he told Stiles he couldn't protect him in here. How much he'd apparently underestimated the crazies in here, and just how bad things could apparently get. He remembered that the last thing Stiles had said to him before he'd stepped into the facility was that if they couldn't figure his situation out, then to make sure he never got out of this place. In the end it had turned out that there wasn't anything Scott could do; the nogitsune took over and got himself out.

Scott looked at Stiles as he started to stir. Oliver walked into Stiles' field of vision as he blinked his eyes. "I- I borrowed some pointers from the five point restraint." He said almost shyly, as if looking for someone to praise his confinement skills. Stiles looked down at his hands and feet, and automatically tried to break free, but it was no use. The same bindings had been used on countless out of control patients effectively for years.

"Oliver, stop this." Stiles said desperately. Just then Oliver started coughing. Scott smelled the blood before he saw it in Olivers hand, along with what appeared to be a dead fly. Scott looked at Oliver with disdain, mouth twisted up. "That's disgusting."

"Scott. It's a fly." Lydia said, slapping Scott's shoulder. "It's a fly Scott- just like what the nogitsune used to control Derek, Issac, and the twins remember? He almost made them all kill each other." Scott's eyes widened and he cursed.

"Oliver listen to me, stop. Oliver-" Stiles was saying, backing away from Oliver as much as he could while tied to a chair. Oliver advanced on Stiles slowly, raising the power drill and turning it on. Lydia whimpered, hating the sound. "Oliver stop!" Stiles yelled. Scott's heart was pounding in his chest, when he heard a deep, raspy voice call out of the shadows.

"Start with her."

The drill stopped, inches from Stiles' head. Oliver looked over his shoulder and moved over to Malia's chair. Stiles, Lydia, and Scott all looked towards the voice, and saw with fear the nogitsune sitting calmly in the shadows, not that far from them. Lydia automatically reached for Stiles' hand next to her, forgetting that he wasn't corporeal. She rested it over his, unable to connect but wanting the comfort of her best friend. Stiles began shaking as the nogitsune turned his face to look at him.

"You did this." Stiles whispered to the fox in confusion. "You got into his head." He said now with conviction.

"Every Dracula needs a Renfield." He said. Stiles looked over to Malia as Oliver tightened her bindings. Worry crossed his face.

"Just let her go." He said, voice shaking.

"Let me in." The nogitsune said. Stiles eyes began watering in fear of the ultimatum now placed upon him. Scott knew the dilemma his best friend was having. Stiles couldn't let the nogitsune in and let it wreak havoc on his friends, but he also couldn't let Malia die. Stiles tried again to get free, to no avail. "Stiiiiiles" the trickster taunted. "Do you want her to leave here alive? Do you want _us_ to leave? We can walk out of this place…"

"Just let her go. Please." Stiles whimpered. Scott and Lydia watched helplessly. Lydia tried to undo the bindings on Stiles arms, but because it was an essential part of this memory, they wouldn't budge. Stiles continued struggling with the bindings as the nogitsune advanced closer and closer.

"Let me in" he whispered forcibly from besides Stiles. Stiles let out a scream of frustration, seeing no good way out of this situation. Across the room, Oliver got close to the unconscious Malia, putting one hand on her head as he turned on the drill. Scott's eyes automatically turned red and his claws extended as the need to protect his pack became more prominent. "Let me in Stiles... Let. Me. In."

Stiles was screaming, going wild as he tried to get out of the restraints. "JUST LET HER GO, PLEASE!" he screamed. The drill was getting closer and closer to Malias head. Scott growled menacingly at Oliver, but he didn't even flinch. Lydia was staring at Stiles, and her heart leapt in surprise as Stiles eyes glanced in Scotts direction for a second before looking elsewhere, tears streaming down his face. She pressed down her hand into Stiles' but it went right through again. She must have imagined it in her fear.

"Let me _in_ Stiles." Stiles threw his head against the back of the chair, tears dripping down his face. He closed his eyes tight in fear. " _Let me in_!" the trickster said again. "Let me in, I'll let her live." Stiles face started to relax. " _Let. Me. In_." Stiles went slack. "Scott!" Lydia screamed, and he turned around, watching as his best friend fell into unconsciousness, face wet from his tears. For a moment he almost looked at peace. Olivers drill was just inches away from Malias head. Within a few seconds it was centimeters. They watched as the Nogitsune dispersed like mist, and Stiles opened his eyes. But it wasn't quite Stiles. "Oliver." He said, voice raspy and calm. The drill stopped just as it brushed Malias hairline.

The nogitsune broke the restraints easily and rubbed his wrists where they were raw from Stiles' struggle. He raised his eyes to the boy still in his grasp, and made his way over to him. Oliver held the drill in his hands comfortably, and smiled at Stiles like a puppy asking if he did good. Void Stiles paused when he reached Oliver, before taking the drill and knocking Oliver out cold with it in a single flash of his hands. He walked slowly over to a table nearby and set the drill upon it as Malia began to stir.

"Stiles?" She asked, mind and voice still foggy from the sedative. Stiles looked over at the girl tied to a chair, smiled, and made his way up the stairs. When Lydia and Scott stayed put as Stiles left, the world descended into darkness and Scott and Lydia blinked rapidly at the sunlight that now steamed into the office windows. They were back at Beacon Hills High School.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, hope you like it so far :) Thank you for the reviews. Can't believe this has over 9000 views already. I told you guys that I'd post every 2 or 3 days. Though I've been posting an new chapter every other day, soon I may have to post on day 3 because I'm getting swamped with classes already. So don't be too upset if you don't get one on the second day, it'll just be one more day :) Enjoy and please review! Love you guys.**

CHAPTER 14

Scott took his hand from Lydia's, but both were silent, just standing and thinking about what they'd just seen. Scott couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he'd made Stiles stay with him while Mr. Stilinski went to the specialist. He could have saves Stiles from the panic and fear set upon him by Eichen house. How many times had Stiles had to sacrifice apart of himself for his friends? He was always there for Scott, no matter what he needed, and never thought twice about it. He always put on a brave face and a smile with a sarcastic remark on the side. Scott had often thought he'd known when something was up with Stiles, that he could sense when something was wrong. While he'd often been right, he couldn't help but wonder how often he'd been wrong, how often Stiles had hidden it from him because he knew Scott had so much other stuff going on?

Lydia was leaning against the wall, thinking of how much crap Stiles had been through in the time since Scott had been turned. Hell, how much Stiles had been through in general. She thought of how they'd found Stiles in the clinic. When she'd run into the room after Scott and saw him on the floor, her heart had nearly stopped, fearing the worst. She knew Stiles meant more to her then she'd ever let show to those around her. She'd never thought she'd think so highly of someone who she had once thought wasn't worth her attention. She'd never been more wrong about anything in her life. She remembered the times she went to the hospital and tried to wake Stiles from his coma-like state. How she tried to be his anchor, just as he'd been hers when he'd rescued her from Eichen house. How awful and heartbroken she'd been when it had failed. When Stiles just continued staring at her like she wasn't there. He hadn't been prepared for the crushing hurt that had filled her when he ignored her.

Lydia looked up from the floor and onto Stiles' face as he sat in a chair of the guidance office, applying a new net to his lacrosse stick. Compared to the memory they'd just seen, he looked so innocent here. His hair was cropped short, and he looked so much younger. The problems of the nogitsune not yet having reached him. But as she looked at his face, Lydia noticed that bags were once again under his eyes, and he looked upset. His hands were working through the net as if trying to distract himself, but his face looked troubled.

"You know when you're drowning you don't actually inhale until right before you black out." He was saying. "It's called voluntary apnea. It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your heads exploding."

Lydia looked over at Scott. They both knew this had to be around the time Matt had almost killed them in the station. This must have been the mandatory sessions Ms. Morrell had made Stiles and Scott attend after he drowned that night. "Then when you do finally let it in that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore it's… it's actually kind of peaceful." Lydia secretly loved when Stiles came up with all this factual information. She sometimes forgot that the goofy guy who made everyone laugh was actually pretty smart.

"Are you saying that you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?"

Stiles breathed deeply and shook his head. "I don't feel sorry for him."

"Can you feel sorry for the nine year old Matt who drowned?" Stiles rolled his eyes and lowered his lacrosse stick. "Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to start killing them off one by one." he said.

Scott looked at Lydia and nodded towards the door, asking if she was ready to move on from the memory. He knew there was no imminent threat in this memory to be worried about, and felt like he was intruding on a personal conversation. Another part of him wanted to see what else he told Ms. Morrell that he possibly hadn't told him, but Scott knew it was an invasion of privacy. Lydia's eyes shifted over to Stiles as Scott stood up from against the wall and began walking towards the door. "And by the way my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matts computer." Scott froze, turning around to Stiles, eyebrows lowered and mouth slightly ajar.

" _What_? Dude you never told me that!" Scott said forcibly to Stiles.

"Not just of her though I mean he photo shopped himself into these pictures." Lydia's eyebrows shot up, and she wondered if Allison had known about that. She'd told Lydia about the creepy pictures she'd seen on there, but from what Allison had told her it had just been regular pictures of her. Creepy, but not as creepy as Matt photo shopping himself into them with her. "Stuff like them holding hands and kissing, you know like he had built this whole fake relationship. So yeah maybe drowning him when he was nine years old was what set him off the rails but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train." Stiles said, eyes unforgiving.

Scott was looking at Stiles in disgust. "Ugh dude really? That's really disturbing. Why didn't you tell me man?"

"Probably because of everything you were going through at the time with her and your mom and the Jackson problem. He probably didn't want to freak you out more, especially if it was all over with his death." Lydia was saying. While Scott had been on his way out the door, Lydia had yet to move from besides the window. When she didn't join Scott, he joined her again, wondering what else the sheriff had told his son about Matt.

Stiles sat back in the chair as Ms. Morrell nodded. "One positive thing came out of this though, right?"

"Yeah." Stiles said, sounding unsure. "Yeah but I still feel like there's something wrong between us. I don't know it's just like tension when we talk."

"Who's he talking about?" Lydia asked. Scott looked over at her, slightly confused.

"I'm not entirely sure? But maybe his dad. I remember he lost his job for a couple of weeks, but got it back after he solved Matts case."

Stiles' gaze kept drifting elsewhere, like he was uncomfortable saying all of this aloud but some other part of him just kept talking. "Same thing with Scott." Scott's eyes whipped back to Stiles.

"Have you talked to him since that night?"

"No, not really." Stiles said, looking down at his lacrosse stick. "I mean he's got his own problems to deal with though." Stiles began adjusting his net again. Lydia recognized it as a nervous tick, a sign of his ADHD. He always needed to be doing something, and if he was going to talk, he also needed some sort of outlet. "I don't think he's talked to Allison either. But that might be more her choice, you know?" Lydia looked around in discomfort, feeling Allison's loss. In this memory she was alive and well, living somewhere out of this room, not knowing she had less than a year left to live. "Her mom dying hit her pretty hard. But I guess it brought her and her dad closer."

"And what about Jackson? He's a friend of yours isn't he?"

"Jackson? Jackson hasn't really been himself lately. Actually the funny thing is as of right now, Lydia's the one who seems the most normal."

"Hey." Lydia said quietly, eyes narrowing at Stiles. "I resent that."

"And what about you Stiles?" Ms. Morrell asked calmly as Stiles began tightening the net with his teeth. "Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"

Stiles looked up at her with a confused expression, rope still in his mouth. "Why would you ask me that?" He looked at the net in his mouth. "Oh. Uh no, I never actually play. But hey since one of my teammates is dead and another one is missing, who knows right?"

Lydia remembered exactly when this was now. She went to that game, and Stiles had played for the first time. It had taken him a while to get the hang of being on the field with the team, but in the end he'd saved the game. Lydia smiled at the memory.

"You mean Isaac. One of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them have you?"

Stiles looked at the desk and changed the subject. "How come you're not taking any notes on this?" He asked. Scott gave his friend an impressed grin, he hadn't even noticed how clear the desk was.

"I do my notes after the session."

Stiles looked at her in disbelief "Your memory's that good?" he asked. The guidance officer tilted her head to the side and looked at Stiles.

"How about we get back to you?" Stiles looked out the window like he wanted to escape out of it before turning his gaze to the ground. "Stiles?"

Stiles looked up, his face guarded, and shook his head. "I'm fine." Scott shook his head. He always said that. "Yeah aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible is about to happen." Scott looked at his friend in surprise. Guilt washed over him as he wondered how many times he had felt like this. How much crap they had been through together, and how much it could have affected him. He was surprised Stiles was even talking about it here. But from what he was hearing from his best friend, after this traumatic event had happened everyone was dealing with so much that he didn't have anyone else to talk to. Not his dad, and not him. He hadn't wanted to burden Scott with how he was feeling because he knew Scott had been dealing with his own stuff with his mom and Allison. Even when Stiles was at a bad point, he still but his brother first. Scott swallowed the lump in his throat.

"…hyper vigilance. The persistent feeling of being under threat."

"Probably because we normally are." Lydia muttered, and Scott smiled.

"It's not just a feeling though its-it's like it's a panic attack. You know, like I can't even breathe." Stiles' voice was low, eyes lost in thought as if going to the place where his worst nightmares lay.

"Like you're drowning?" Ms. Morrell asked.

Stiles paused. "Yeah." He said quietly.

Lydia had the crushing desire to go hold his hand in comfort, let him know that he wasn't alone. But she knew there was no point. She knew he wouldn't see her.

"So. If you're drowning, and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that very. last. moment." Stiles looked up at her, wondering where she was going with this. "What if you choose not to open your mouth? To not let the water in."

Stiles looked almost confused by her question. "You do anyways, it's a reflex."

"But, if you hold off, until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right?"

"Not _much_ time."

"But more time. To fight your way to the surface."

"I guess."

"More time to be rescued."

"More time to be in agonizing pain I mean did you forget about the part where it feels like your head is exploding?" Stiles asked, exasperated. Ms. Morrell leaned forward, gaze never leaving Stiles.

"If it's about survival, isn't a little agony worth it?" Stiles averted his gaze.

"I mean what if it just gets worse? What if it's… agony now and… and it's just hell later on."

Part of Scott wanted to look away, guilt gnawing at him that he hadn't realized how much he'd been effected by the events that had played out. But no matter how much his brain told him to look away, his eyes were trained on his best friend. His brother. He wanted to take his pain away. He didn't want him saying things like this, didn't want him experiencing things like the nogitsune, or the panic attacks, or the near death experiences. He was sick of seeing Stiles in pain, physically, emotionally, mentally. Scott just wanted to see his best friend awake and happy again. He couldn't take it anymore, and began walking to the door again.

"Scott-" Lydia said, following after him.

"Then think about something Winston Churchill once said." Ms. Morrell was saying. Scott was opening the door, and Lydia glanced at this Stiles once more, placing a hand through his shoulder in a last ditch effort of some sort of moral support.

"If you're going through hell… _keep going_." Lydia paused, and absorbed her words. Scott paused at the open door, reaching back for Lydia's hand before walking through and walking down the hallway. They could hear the mumbling as Stiles and Ms. Morrell continued talking, but it was already too dim for Lydia to hear and she had a feeling Scott was purposefully tuning them out. The sunlight seemed to darken to night, and they were gone.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, hope the extra day didn't upset you guys too much. It'll probably more of a 3 day posting from now on (unless I miraculously get more writing time) but don't worry it won't be more than that unless there's an emergency or something :) Enjoy and please review!**

CHAPTER 15

Scott and Lydia came through the darkness and into a parking lot, where a second Scott was pulling up on his dirt bike, followed immediately by Stiles infamous jeep right next to them. They immediately recognized the building behind them from the only time they'd been there before- when the mass murderer Barrow had kidnapped Kira. Stiles jumped out of his jeep as Scott climbed off his dirt bike.

"Okay, wait here alright? Wait for the cops to come." He said to Lydia as she was attempting to take off her seatbelt on the passenger side.

"Me? Wait, why?" Lydia asked in confusion. Stiles had been running after Scott who was already in the building, but turned back quickly.

"Well I only got one bat" He said. Lydia looked away and raised her arm in annoyance and Stiles rushed into the building.

Scott laughed besides Lydia from next to the jeep. "Him and that stupid bat." He said before they jogging into the building after him.

"Yeah okay." Stiles was saying to past Scott when they caught up. The boys separated; Scott ran down the hallway in front of them as Stiles ran upstairs to the second floor. Scott and Lydia followed after Stiles. Stiles got to the top of them steps and jogged through an empty room, eyes scouring the area around them.

Lydia was looking at him with confusion. She knew this was where Scott found out Kira was a Kitsune, that Barrow would electrocute Kira and she would black out the area from absorbing it all. She knew Scott was minorly electrocuted, and Barrow killed. What she didn't know was how this was an important enough memory that Stiles would place them here. When she'd missed Stiles' smile at his mother's deathbed, she'd realized at all the memories revolved around times when Stiles was distressed. She had a theory that Stiles might be at the center of it all. That maybe he was stuck in his worst memory. Whatever that was…

A crash drew Stiles attention and he began running to the other end of the room and down another set of stairs. Scott and Lydia followed after him. The three of them heard Barrow before they saw him, and they ran into a room filled with transformers holding thousands of volts of electricity and surrounded by gates.

"She's not the one you want!" Scott heard himself shout from the other side of the room. He looked down the hallway of chain linked fences and saw himself on the floor, looking desperately at Kira. Stiles saw his best friend on the ground and rushed through the door, heading in the direction of Scott and Kira across the large room. Before he got more than five feet, electricity erupted throughout the room. Sparks were flying and Lydia screamed, Scott grabbing her to protect her from the currents traveling at light speed throughout the room, hitting anything metal they could find.

Stiles was in front of them, ducking from the sparks igniting over his head while the bat stuck up like a becon. Just then a bolt of high powered electricity hit Stiles in chest, throwing him back and pinning him to a metal box ten feet away.

"NO!" Lydia screamed as Scotts eyes widened into golf balls. A horrible scream ripped out of his lungs and Lydia covered her hears as the explosions of electricity drowned out the noise of Stiles' cry. When the electricity released him, Stiles slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Across the room the electricity started gravitating to a figure who seemed to be standing in a lake of sparks. When the sparks were almost gone, Lydia was able to see Kiras face inside the ball of white heat, sparks flying into her hands as she absorbed the electric currents around them. Her face was turned towards the other Scotts, and he looked back at her in amazement. He had no idea that his best friend was slumped 30 yards away, smoking rising from his clothes from the heat he'd just endured.

Scott and Lydia ran towards Stiles and kneeled besides him. "How the hell did he survive that?!" Scott yelled. Lydia looked at him in fear, not having an answer as Stiles began to stir. Across the room, the other Scott was approaching Kira, who had completely absorbed all of the electricity. He looked around before rushing Kira out of the room as the sound of sirens approached.

Stiles placed his hands on the floor in front of him and lifted himself up off the floor and into standing position. When he brought his face up from the ground, a callous grin was spread across his face and darkness lay behind his eyes.

Out of nowhere Scott remembered that night at the hospital talking to Derek. He'd told him how he believed the nogitsune was possessing his best friend. How this very night at the substation, Kiras foxfire was used to secure the nogitsunes hold on Stiles. His gaze drifted to the power box Stiles was thrown into, and noticed a metal baseball bat now attached to it as if in a firm grip. Stiles was no longer smoking and he casually started walking away from them, whistling like he had no care in the world. After a few yards, he stopped and went quiet. Then he was looking around the room, eyes worried. "Scott? Scott!" The second Scott came bounding through the door behind both Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall, looking unsure what to do. Stiles stopped again, looking at their dads in surprise. "Oh. Hi dad. Mr. McCall" He said, nodding to them before looking at Scott with a tight smile that clearly Scott took as a 'Dude why didn't you come warn me' smile. From behind their dads, past Scotts eyebrows went up and he shrugged helplessly.

Lydia and Scott were still kneeling back where Stiles had collapsed, watching the exchange. It was obvious Stiles had no memory of what had transpired here, of himself almost dying. Not at that point anyways. Scott looked at Lydia and lifted his hands in front of him in a 'what the hell just happened' posture. It was rhetorical-obviously he was very aware on what had just transpired. Stiles, Scott, and their dads were talking in the doorway, as Lydia and Scott started discussing what they'd just seen.

"I wish I could go back and just- do things differently. If we knew what was happening we could have stopped it. If I'd just listened-" Scott was saying.

"Hey. Stop it. There is absolutely no point in thinking of what we could have done. We can't change what happened with the nogitsune. It wasn't anyone's fault. And Stiles is okay now. Well, mostly okay."

"Lydia I've been meaning to ask you. All these memories we're seeing, everything Stiles is putting us through. They're all bad memories right? Why is that? Why not good memories? You'd think if Stiles is trapped in here he'd want to be surrounded by his greatest hits or something right? Why _these_ memories?"

"I was thinking the same thing. I have two working theories. Given the sufficient evidence, both still hold up given our current predicament." Scott nodded for her to continue. "Okay, so the first one parallels my original theory. Stiles is using these memories as a defense mechanism and sending them our way. They're probably all of his worst memories because he knows it might be a distraction, that we'll be compelled to help him-thus distracting us and keeping us away from him."

"Okay, that would make sense right?"

"Yes and no. I mean if that consensus is correct then Stiles- real Stiles that is, has to have some knowledge on who we are. Because if it was someone like Theo or some other stranger in here, they would be in here for information and would easily bypass all the bad memories of Stiles to try and find whatever information they were looking for. Whereas because we're his friends he would probably know we'd feel compelled to each memory. Which would in turn beg the question that if he does indeed know it's us in here, why is he still using this as a defense mechanism against us? And if he doesn't know it's us then his method for keeping someone out by distracting them wouldn't be as effective so why use that method?" Lydia said, exasperated and out of breath from talking fast.

"Wow, did you say that all in one breath?" Scott said, impressed.

Lydia threw her hands in the air. "Really Scott? That's what you focused on?"

"No no, I heard everything you said. It makes sense that that would be what he was doing, but you're right. That does put in the question of if he knows it's us or not. But why would he be hiding from us?" Lydia shrugged, lost in thought. "What's you're second theory?"

"What? Oh. The other theory is actually more plausible since the first has a few holes in it. The reason for only negative memories could revolve around the fact of how Stiles was attacked by Theo." Scott looked at her in confusion as the world stated to darken. He grabbed her hand as she continued talking. "Think about it- in the moment he was attacked he must have known what was about to happen. He would have been scared, and it could have even been more than that. He may have been wondering how many times he's been in danger or in a crappy situation like that. Either way- if fear and pain were his last memory before he retreated in his mind-"

"Then it could have trapped him in that state when he descended into his subconscious."

"Exactly." Lydia looked around them. "Whoa when did we get to the hospital?"

"While you were explaining theory two."

"Huh." She said, looking around the roof of the hospital. She put her arms around herself as a chill went up her spine. It was freezing here. As her gaze drifted across the door leading inside, it burst open, slamming against the wall as Stiles walked out holding a duffel bag. His eyes were dark, deep bags under them, matching his calculating face. The most odd thing of it all was that he was barefoot and wearing pajamas.

"That's not Stiles." Scott said, looking onto void Stiles' eyes. The nogitsune was climbing onto a cage filled with wires and opened the duffel bag. He dipped his hand in the bag to grab something, but seemed to snatch it out again in surprise. Panic spread across his face and he climbed down to the roof again. He backed away from the electricity and tried to get to the door, but before he could, the nogitsune grabbed his mind once more.

"Stiles- stop fighting." He began saying to himself. "We're going to do this either way. You know you can't stop me." He said, going back to the gate. When he put his hands on the fence, he paused before ripping his hands away. "NO!" he screamed. "What am I doing? Why am I here?" He said to himself. He began pacing, his hands running through his hair in distress. He stopped. "We're here because I need to do something." He said, voice raspy once more.

"Lydia- those are the same clothes he was wearing in Eichen house during his nightmare."

"Wait so is this the same night? Is this a different part of his nightmare?"

"I don't think so. We found his jeep at the hospital remember? He'd driven while sleepwalking and left it here. After that he must have walked miles back through the woods to the coyote den. But I don't think he was sleepwalking. His chemo signals indicated there was a struggle up here. He must have had partial control."

"So the struggle was with himself? Or rather between him and the nogitsune. But why wouldn't he tell us that?"

"The nogitsunes a trickster spirit right? Maybe he made Stiles think this was all a dream too. Made him think this wasn't real. Or maybe he just made him forget it until it could take full control of him."

"Stop it. Stop saying we. Why are you doing this?" Stiles was begging. He was shaking in fear, as well as from the harsh temperatures of the night. His face turned menacing "Because Stiles. I have a grand plan" He said, putting his hand out towards the horizon as if envisioning it for himself. "And this is the big kick off Stiles. This is the thing that will start it all. And in the morning Stiles?" He smirked "In the morning you won't even remember this." Stiles climbed back onto the gate. He grabbed wire cutters and splicers and got to work cutting the major power line. Sparks began spewing out, but with the Void in control, it didn't even seem to affect him at all.

Stiles eyes watered. "Please don't do this."

"Oh Stiles… it's already done." With that Stiles was pushed down, and the nogitsune stepped away from the wire. He stashed the duffle bag and got down, calmly walking to the edge of the roof. It was all over in a matter of minutes. He nodded in approval, picturing the damage it would do. Void Stiles closed his eyes and his face went slack. When he opened his eyes again, it was Stiles, and yet still not quite Stiles. His eyes were glazed over, and he turned around and headed towards the door that lead inside as if not really seeing it.

"Stiles?" Lydia called out, following him.

"Lydia the nogitsune retreated." Scott said when she glanced back at him. "He must have put Stiles back to sleep, which means they're just sleepwalking right now. This must be when he headed into the woods where my parents found him." Scott said, looking lost in thought.

"Shouldn't we follow him? Make sure he doesn't get hurt?"

"There's no point. We already know what happened remember? He had a few cuts and scratches on his feet from walking in the woods but the main problem was his case of hypothermia. The hospital took care of it when my mom brought him in so it doesn't matter if we follow him. There's nothing we can do here-we need to find Stiles." Scott sounded almost cold, and Lydia glanced over to him at the edge of the roof, looking over the town. She knew he didn't mean for it to come out harsh-that these memories were starting to get to him. They were getting to her too. There was only so much pain you could see a person in before it starts to break you. It was especially bad when it was your best friend.

Lydia walked over to him and grabbed his hand, squeezing it in comfort. She knew she didn't need to say anything, just be there for him. They waited in silence, lost in thought, for Stiles to walk far enough away from them so that the world turned black.


	16. Chapter 16

**Enjoy and please review! New Chapter Tuesday morning :)**

CHAPTER 16

Before the world came back into focus, something began to fall upon them. Lydia put out her free hand to feel the water touch her skin. It was raining. It was almost odd to have her hair wet, her clothes beginning to soak through. They weren't really here, but how could they not be when it all felt so real? The rain was almost refreshing after so long in the cold. Lydia was lost in the moment of feeling rain in a place that it shouldn't exist, that she didn't look around until she heard Scott make an odd sound in his throat.

"What the hell was-" she began in a teasing tone, but then noticed who else was there. Another Scott and Stiles stood right outside the clinic in the pouring rain. She had no idea what was going on but from the look of guilt Scotts face, it wasn't anything good.

"…Had trouble starting the jeep again the thing's barely hanging on. Couldn't get in touch with Malia or Lydia." Stiles was saying as he came to a stop in front of his best friend. Scott stood there looking at a loss for words just staring at Stiles. "Scott?" Stiles asked.

Both Scotts were looking towards the ground, but the one closer to the clinic reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a wrench. Lydia was about to make a crack comment to Scott, asking him how the he keep that in the inside of his jacket without it falling, but his face was so somber she figured now probably wasn't quite the best time.

Stiles was staring at the wrench in Scotts hand, clearly recognizing it from somewhere. "Where'd you get that?" He asked.

Scott stared at him. "This is yours?" He asked, almost hurt. Lydia was lost, she had no idea why the wrench was such a big deal. Stiles looked away before moving forward and grabbing the wrench from Scotts hands. He stared at it and twisted it around so that they could all see the splatter of something on the handle. It suddenly clicked for Lydia. The red on the wrench was blood, and the last time she'd seen Stiles even use a wrench was when- was when she'd seen Stiles ward off Donovan with it in the Library parking lot. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Stiles was avoiding eye contact with Scott. "I was going to."

"Why didn't you tell me when it happened?" Scott asked almost accusatorily.

"I couldn't." Stiles said softly, looking up to face Scott. His eyes were wracked with guilt and remorse, along with something else.

"You killed him?" Next to her, Scott closed his eyes and raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You killed Donovan?" His double was saying.

"He was going to kill my dad." Stiles said in his defense. "What was I supposed to just let him?" Lydia sighed. That _probably_ wasn't the best response to the situation. Maybe something more along the lines of _He was trying to kill me,_ or _It wasn't like I meant to,_ or even _You don't know the whole story_ probably would have been better than that.

"You weren't supposed to do this." Scott replied, aghast. Lydia once again felt lost, like she didn't understand something. And for anyone who knew Lydia, she hated not knowing things.

"Scott. What is going on?" She asked in frustration. "Why are you- or why _did_ you attack him, you know it was self-defense."

"I didn't. I didn't know it was self-defense."

"What do you mean?"

"Theo he- he was the one who convinced Donovan to go after Stiles. He was there. He saw the whole thing. I looked for him when we were in the library but I couldn't see him. It must have been because Stiles didn't know he was there at the time. But he was the one who told me what happened. Except it wasn't the true story. He told me that Donovan went after Stiles and threatened his dad, so Stiles took the wrench and basically smashed Donovans head in. He said he couldn't stop him, that Stiles just kept bringing the wrench down even after he was dead, that he'd never seen someone so angry." Scott was still looking at the ground. "He made me believe that my best friend had coldly murdered him without remorse. And I believed him." Scott looked up at Lydia, eyes full of his own regret and guilt. "I believed Theo about everything. I believed him over my best friend."

Lydia couldn't help looking at Scott in horror. How could he have possibly believed Stiles could do something like that? Just a year ago he'd refused to believe Stiles could kill someone when Stiles himself asked him to believe it, and now it was through word of mouth and he'd automatically accepted it? She wanted to kill Theo for telling him something so awful. And she honestly wanted to scream at Scott for being so stupid. Stiles was one of the most selfless people she knew, and Scott knew him even better than she did. He'd known him even longer than any of them. How could he have believed even for a minute that Stiles could do something so heartless? She wanted to tell Scott all of that, but paused at the look at his face. The guilt was practically contorting his features as he hunched over as if a great weight was placed upon him. Tears were forming in his eyes as he turned his face back to his past self who was blaming his best friend without even giving him a chance at a proper explanation. So Lydia held her tongue. He was furious at him, but Scott was still her friend. And he didn't need the additional guilt placed upon him as they watched the confrontation.

"You think I had a choice?" Stiles was saying.

"There's always a choice."

"Yeah well I can't do what you can Scott!" Stiles said, his voice rising. "I know you wouldn't have done it. You'd probably just figure something out right?"

"I'd try" Scott said nodding. Lydia watched in rising anger and sadness. She knew it was Theo's fault, and that both boys were not expressing themselves clearly at all. They were both running on circumstantial evidence. Scott in thinking that he knew what really happened, and Stiles on the fact that Scott knew everything somehow and was still blaming him on top of the immense guilt he already felt. They were losing each other because of their ignorance.

"That's right because you're Scott McCall! You're the true Alpha! Guess what all of us can't be true alphas! Some of us have to make mistakes. Some of us have to get our hands a little bloody sometimes, SOME OF US ARE _HUMAN_!" From next to Lydia, the real Scott was staring at the scene in front of him as if watching a car wreck. He couldn't look away.

"So you had to kill him?" Scott asked calmly.

"Scott he was going to kill my _dad_." Stiles said, looking at Scott as in disbelief.

"The way that it happened- there's a point where it's just – it's not self-defense anymore.

"What are you even talking about?!" Stiles said desperately. Lydia could tell he felt helpless. He was angry and devastated because he knew he was losing his best friend. All that was piled on top of the immense guilt as he tried to convince himself it was self-defense when Lydia knew apart of him was still stuck on the fact that he was responsible for taking life. "I didn't have a choice, Scott!" Stiles looked at him in disbelief. "You don't even believe me do you?"

"AHHH!" Scott was screaming from besides her, and he ran forward towards the jeep and punched it as hard as he could. Through the jeep jumped from the impact, neither Scott nor Stiles seemed to have heard it. Scott was screaming as he punched it again and again, as rain and tears dripped down his face.

"Scott!" Lydia yelled, rushing over. His eyes were red and glowing as he threw punch after punch at the jeep. "Scott stop!"

"I want to" Past Scott was saying. Stiles face seemed to twitch in their direction, but his face was set on the past Scott.

"Okay great so- so believe me!" Lydia glanced in their direction. "Scott say you believe me." Scott didn't say anything. "Say it. Say you believe me."

"Stiles we can't kill people that we're trying to save."

"Say you believe me." Stiles said, stepping towards Scott with his arm raised. Unfortunately as Lydia saw, the hand he'd unconsciously raised towards Scott was also the one holding the wrench. And Lydia knew he'd lost him. Scott backed up as if afraid of his best friend. Stiles looked down at the wrench and back at his best friend.

"You can't kill people! Do you believe that?" Stiles was shaking his head as if trying to find something to say that could fix everything. From besides her, the real Scott stopped punching the jeep and brought back his hand, bloody and broken as he turned around and sunk to the ground next to the front wheel, head in his hands.

"What do I do about this? What do you want me to do okay, just- Scott just tell me how to fix this alright? Just tell me what do you want me to do?" Scott looked at a loss for words for a minute as he tried to think of what to say next.

"Don't worry about Malia, or Lydia. I'll find them. Maybe uh, maybe you should talk to your dad." With that, Scott turned around and went inside the clinic, leaving Stiles staring after him in the rain. He looked devastated, and looked at the wrench in his hands as if seeing it for the first time. Lydia knelt beside Scott and took his injured hand in hers. His knuckles were bloody, the skin gone, and at least two of his fingers appeared to be broken. She looked up to the jeep and noticed the large dent in the side of the vehicle. It looked as if someone had thrown a bowling ball into it. Stiles came around the front of the jeep and opened the door. He sat there for a minute staring at the clinic before backing out and starting to drive down the road. Scott had barely gotten out of his way and continued sitting on the ground in the rain.

"Scott." Lydia was saying. Scott didn't look up from the pavement. She was still angry at him, and she was heartbroken for both of them. She knew they were okay now, or rather, before Stiles had gone comatose, but she also knew that they'd had a falling out while she'd been in Eichen house. She was pretty sure she'd just witnessed both boys losing their best friend. Though she knew it would only last about a week, _they_ didn't at this point. Lydia turned her gaze to Scott, unsure what to do. She didn't want to tell him that what he did wasn't that bad, because it was. They both did and said things that they would regret, but right now was not the time for a lecture. She didn't have the heart to come up with a lecture, nor anything that could make him feel better in the face of everything he had just accused his best friend of doing. At the same time he cleary regretted this, and she couldn't help but have pity for him. Unsure what to say or do, Lydia kept his injured hand in hers, and sat down beside him in the middle of the parking lot as the rain continued to descend upon them. She sat there and let her friend feel whatever he needed, not telling him it was completely fine, but not letting him process everything alone. She didn't need to say anything; she knew he understood. Before long, the world went black, and they were somewhere else.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! Thank you for the reviews! Especially to those who review pretty much every chapter. It means a lot :) So I still have a good amount of memories I want Scott and Lydia to see, but I don't want it to seem like the same thing over and over again so I will be adding some answers to questions the duo have been having soon in regards to finding Stiles in either the next chapter or the one following that. Hope you like it so far! Enjoy and please review!**

CHAPTER 17

The sudden light made Lydia blink rapidly, and she waited for her eyes to adjust as the sounds of teenagers filled her ears. When she was able to see again, she saw that they were sitting on the floor in the back of a classroom, making a puddle of rain water on the floor. Scott didn't even seem to notice the change in surroundings; he just sat there staring at his bloody hand watching the cuts close and the bones mend. When Lydia felt his bone shift back into place in her hand, she shivered and took her hand back.

Scott barely noticed. He was trying to shut up his thoughts, he wanted to stop thinking. Seeing their Stiles hurt, seeing all these times he was in pain in so many different ways made him feel like a horrible friend. He thought of what he'd just seen, how cruel it had sounded now that he knew the whole truth- the real truth. He thought back to what they'd seen. The nogitsune tormenting him, not knowing what was real, almost dying again and again, or watching his friends almost die… getting attacked by Donovan. How could they have let him be alone so many times when he needed someone most of all? How could they have let him close himself off, so that the only time he told them something was wrong was when it was really bad? How many times had they just accepted that he was alright just because he brushed it off?

Lydia was looking for Stiles and located him sitting next to a past version of herself a row over from where her and Scott sat. Her gaze turned back to Scott. Lydia knew that Scott had it hard. He was constantly looking out for everyone's safety in the pack. Constantly the leader who had to take charge and fight the big bad. She knew that out of everyone, it was Stiles who kept him balanced. Stiles who was always there for Scott when he needed advice or to help him get through something. Even if he just needed a good laugh, Stiles was there for him. She also knew that Scott was there for Stiles a lot of the time. She knew that when the Sheriff was dying, Scott had done everything in his power to help his best friend, even if Stiles hadn't wanted his help. Even if Scott was badly hurt at the time. She knew Scott also had a habit of blaming himself, and this had to be hardest of all. Seeing his best friend hurt in so many ways, so many different times was clearly hitting him hard.

Lydia couldn't help but think of all the times Stiles had been there for her. Why wasn't she there for Stiles when he needed someone? She knew she wasn't thinking rationally. She knew she'd been there for him some of the times. But clearly not in his worst moments. She shook her head of the thoughts and turned to Scott, saying something they both needed to hear. "There's no point dwelling on something we can't change. All we can do is try to be there for him more in the future. And that starts with getting him out of here. Come on." She said, standing and holding out her hand. "Let's go find him." Scott looked up at her and smiled faintly. He took her hand and she helped him stand. He wiped the blood from his now fully healed hand onto his pants, and walked over to Stiles to test him.

Lydia stayed right where she was, thrown off by the face of Ms. Blake at the front of the class. There was no way was she getting closer to the dark druid that almost killed her. Scott walked back to her with a frown. Just as he opened his mouth to tell her something, there was a loud thump. Everyone turned their eyes to the window where there was a dark splatter or blood where a bird had just slammed into it.

Outside the window the sky was turning dark as a flock of crows came flying towards the classroom. Within seconds, another one hit a window nearby, and another, and another, and then there was a flock flying at full speed towards the windows. Glass broke and the birds were inside. Scott ducked and ran towards Lydia, covering her head. Her gaze was locked on Stiles, watching as he immediately shoved a desk out of the way and ran towards the past version of herself, covering as much of her as he could to protect her from the swarm of pecking birds.

Her mind went back to the night he broke her out of Eichen house, how Stiles had come back for her even though she'd warned him he could die. Of how she'd finally screamed at the clinic, breaking the glass, and how the last thing she remembered before passing out was Stiles throwing himself over her to protect her. Just like he always did.

As the crows continued attacking the students, Scott ushered Lydia towards out of the door and into the hallway, the screams of their peers growing dimmer. Her heart was beating out of her chest at having to relive that for the second time. Scott looked at her with wide eyes and she returned an identical expression. They were standing in the hallway of their school, in the middle of the day, drenched from head to toe and covered in feathers.

Lydia broke first. She covered her mouth with her hand and let out a ridiculous sounding squeak of laughter at their absurd appearance.

Scott cracked a smile "What was that?" he asked before laughing. Lydia burst into laughter at their situation and appearance and Scott lost it soon after. They stood there hunched over practically crying in laughter as the screams of their classmates dimmed in the background and the rushing of feathers stopped. Probably not the best time or place for it, but they both needed a good laugh to keep them sane in here. The hallway was starting to dim as their giggling faded, gulping in much needed air. Scott put his hand on Lydias shoulder, grin on his face as they were teleported somewhere else.  
-

They came through the darkness and into the hospital. They were in front of the main desk where Scotts mom sat talking to Stiles. Stiles himself looked exhausted and fidgety. He was backing up from Melissa and looking around as if unsure what to do. Lydia looked at Scott, a smile still on her lips but a question in her eyes. Scott shrugged, and turned back to his best friend.

"Stiles?" Melissa was saying. Concern crossed her face and she stood up. "Are you alright?"

"I don't- I don't know. I guess. I guess not really?" He said, unsure as Melissa stepped around the desk and approached him nodding in assurance.

"Alright kiddo. Alright come with me." She said, wrapping her arm around Stiles comfortingly as she lead him down the hallway. "It's okay." Scott and Lydia followed behind them as Melissa lead Stiles into a patient room and had him sit on the bed. She got out a nurses clip board and started filling in his basic information. She knew a lot of it, after all Stiles was pretty much like a second son to her and it wasn't his first hospital visit. Name, birthday, social, emergency contact, she wrote in all of them by heart as Stiles removed his jacket and glanced at her nervously. He seemed on edge, unsure of what to do or where to look. Like he didn't want to be here but didn't want to go anywhere else. Finally, Melissa turned back to him. "Okay Stiles tell me what's going on."

He paused. "I'm not exactly sure."

"Okay well what kind of symptoms have you been experiencing?"

"Blackouts, but not for that long, and sleepwalking which I used to do a lot as a kid. Uh, also having some really bad anxiety."

"Panic attacks?" Melissa asked, eyes drifting from the medical form to Stiles.

"Yeah a couple. Oh and I temporarily lost the ability to read, but that may have had more to do with this giant magic tree and a whole human sacrifice thing." Stiles said, and Melissa laughed.

"I recall something vaguely about that yes. How many hours of sleep are you getting?" Melissa asked, writing down the symptoms on the clipboard.

"Eight." Stiles said automatically, shifting his eyes away.

"A night?" Melissa asked.

"The last three days." Melissa stopped writing and turned to Stiles in surprise and worry. Scotts eyebrows went up. He knew this had to be when the nogitsune was starting to take over. He remembered Stiles telling him he hadn't been sleeping all that well but he hadn't realized 'all that well' meant almost not at all. Stiles looked down at his hands as Melissa wrote something down. It took a minute to realize that Stiles was counting his fingers. Scott swallowed, heart hurting for his best friend who was struggling to figure out if he was awake. To figure out if this was real.

Lydia was watching Stiles mouth move, and remembered the panic attack memory she'd seen. How Scott had helped him distinguish reality from a dream by counting his fingers. She wondered just how often he had been unsure of what was real or not in the months between when he died with Scott and Allison and when the nogitsune took over.

"Yeah definitely eight." Stiles said, looking back at Melissa.

"Been feeing irritable?" She asked, turning around and grabbing a pair of plastic gloves.

"Yeah." Stiles said, nervously touching his lip. "Possibly to the point of homicide."

"Inability to focus?"

"No the Adderall's not working."

"Impulsive behavior?"

"More than my usual? Hard to tell."

"Vivid dreams during the day." She said, her back still to him as she opened a small package containing a syringe.

"Okay basically all of the above. Do you know what this is?"

Melissa nodded, smiling at him. "I think so." She said, bringing up the syringe. Stiles looked at it apprehensively. "What's that" he asked.

"Do you trust me?"

"When you're not holding a needle." She smiled and lifted up his sleeve, exposing his shoulder.

"It's midazolam. A sedative." She said calmly as she inserted the needle into his skin and pushed down the plunger before Stiles could object. Stiles immediately looked cautious and he looked from his arm to Melissa.

"Why'd you give me a sedative?"

"Because you Stiles? Are one profoundly sleep deprived young man. You need rest. You need it now. Lie down." She said, hands on his shoulders as she began guiding him down to the bed."

"Okay… Okay how long does it take to- oh not long at all." He said as his eyes began to droop. Melissa gently maneuvered him down into the bed and raised the blanket over him, tucking him in. Stiles seemed to be fighting it a little, but his eyes were closing. Melissa held his hand as he began to slip under. He gripped it tightly back, as if scared to fall asleep. Melissa ran her hand over his forehead and brushed his hair back. Scott smiled, remembering her doing that to him every time he was sick as a kid.

"Get some rest." She said, nodding as his eyes closed and his breathing evened out.

"Thanks mom." Stiles whispered, before his head tilted to the side and he was out. Scott smiled at him mom for being there for him, and for treating Stiles like another son. Stiles was like a brother to Scott, and he knew he felt the same way. He knew that Mr. Stilinski was like a dad to him; he was there for Scott throughout all the years when his own father wasn't. It would make sense that Stiles would think of his mom as another mother to him too. Especially after his own mom had died. He was pretty sure Stiles didn't remember saying that out loud, but he knew his mom had to. Melissa reached up and turned off the light over Stiles head before exiting the room.

Lydia smiled at Stiles on the bed- he looked at peace finally. Like he was unbothered in sleep. No nightmares or nogitsunes- just sleep. It was nice to see. She let her hand hover on the edge of his shoulder, and ache in her heart. She missed him. Even when he was comatose he barely ever slept, he just stared at the wall, eyes unfocused. She wanted to see him smile, or crack a joke. She wanted to talk to him and have him hear her. She wanted him to wake up. She didn't notice when the room started to fade until Scotts hand was on her shoulder. She blinked and looked up to his face as a cloud of darkness surrounded them.

When everything was back in focus, she realized she was standing next to her 16 year old self in the middle of the lacrosse field- and Peter was emerging from the shadows.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for the reviews I'm glad you guys like it :) Some of you have been asking for this chapter for awhile so here it is! Hope you like it. Enjoy and please review! New chapter Monday morning.**

CHAPTER 18

Lydia's heart started beating out of her chest at the sight of Alpha Peter advancing on her through the misty night. "LYDIA!" She heard from behind her. She knew that voice by heart now, and both versions of her turned to see Stiles running at top speed towards her, panic on his face. "RUN!" They tuned back to see Peters fangs elongate and his eyes turn red. Lydia stood frozen in place, once again in the moment of panic she'd felt so long ago. Luckily she wasn't alone here this time. She felt Scott's hand on her shoulder as he pulled her back and away from Peter. She watched in horror as he bit her younger self on the side, tearing his teeth into her skin. She watched as her blood spilled onto her dress and her screams filled the air. She saw herself struggle in panic to get out of his grasp, smearing her own blood all over herself in an effort to get away. She watched herself fight less and less until she went limp as her body fell to the ground without an ounce of grace.

Stiles was running as fast as he could, but he didn't get to her in time. He slid onto the ground in front of her bleeding body, face to face with Peter who was hovering over her body as if claiming his prize. Lydia didn't realize she was shaking until Scott pulled her into a protective hug, his eyes hard and jaw set as he looked at her body on the ground.

Stiles eyes were flickering between Lydia's blood stained body on the ground, and Peters homicidal glance. "Don't kill her. Please." He begged. Peter looked as if he was considering it for a moment before looking back to Stiles.

"Of course not. Just tell me how to find him." Stiles looked up at him in confusion, breath filling the air in front of him in little puffs as the cold air settled into the night.

"What?" Stiles asked. Peter lifted his finger and dragged it down the side of Lydia's unconscious face. From above them, Lydia shuttered.

"Tell me. How. To find. Derek. Hale." He said menacingly.

Stiles' gaze was locked on Lydia. "I don't know that, how would I know that?" he said, voice rising in his panic.

"Because you're the clever one aren't you? And because deception has a particularly acrid scent Stiles. Tell me the truth. Or I will rip her apart." Stiles breathing picked up as his gaze shifted in fear from Lydia to Peter.

"Look I don't know okay? I sw- I swear to God I have no idea."

"TELL ME!" Peter roared, voice filling the field. Stiles looked down to the ground, shaking in fear.

"Okay okay okay look." He took a deep breath as his eyes shifted, and Scott realized he knew that look well. Stiles was calculating in his head. He was putting the pieces together, figuring something out. "I think he knew."

"Knew what."

"Derek I think- I think he knew he was going to be caught." Stiles said, avoiding Peters eyes.

"By the Argents."

"Yeah."

"And?"

"When they were shot, he and Scott he- he took Scott's phone." Peter raised his eyebrows in slight annoyance.

"Why?"

"They all have GPS now. So if he still has it, and if it's still on, we can find him." Stiles finally looked up at Peter in nervousness and anger.

"Great. Now was that so hard?" Peter said, standing up and bringing out a handkerchief from his pocket. "Let's go for a little ride Stiles." He said, wiping Lydia's blood off of his face like it was something he did every day.

"No. I'm not just letting you leave her here."

"You don't have a choice Stiles, you're coming with me."

"Just kill me, look I don't care anymore!" Scott rocked on his feet, itching to punch Peter as he stared at his best friend, shocked at the words coming out of his mouth. He'd heard them once before. When they'd been on their way to saving Lydia from the nogitsune. When him and Isaac were wondering out loud if the nogitsune dying would kill him too. Apparently, Stiles had little regards to his own life if other people were in the crosshairs. Something he knew he did as well, but something he hated to see in his best friend. While he admired his bravery, he didn't want Stiles to put himself in harm's way. He couldn't lose him.

Peter put his claws under Stiles chin, forcing him to stand up as the claws threatened to draw blood. "Call your friend. Tell Jackson where she is, that's all you get." Peter said, taking a few steps away. Stiles immediately called Jackson, and told him the basics. The second he hung up the phone, Peter grabbed his arm and started dragging him away from Lydia's unconscious body.

Despite his protests, Peter didn't let go of Stiles until they were in the parking lot next to the jeep. "Get in." Peter said, tossing Stiles towards the driver's seat. Stiles was starting to look annoyed as he unlocked the driver's side door and turned to open the passenger's side. He paused as if debating making a getaway now that he was in possession of his jeep, and some protection with the locked doors, but Peter turned his head menacingly. Stiles had to know that Peter could a) easily rip the jeep apart and then kill Stiles, and b) go back into the school and kill everyone.

"Ugh, fine." Stiles said, rolling his eyes and leaning over to unlock his door. Scott smirked and climbed in the back seat with Lydia. While neither Peter nor Stiles seemed to have heard the opening and clamming of the door as the two entered, Scott noticed that Stiles seemed to twitch at the sound of the closing door as his heartbeat picked up ever so slightly. He immediately reached out and tried to touch his shoulder.

"Stiles?" he asked, but his hand went right through him. He brought his hand back, confused. He could have sworn- but it must have been a mistake.

"Scott? What's wrong?" Lydia asked from next to him.

"Nothing I just thought- never mind." He said, sitting back in frustration.

"It's clearly not 'nothing', did you see something?"

"No I just thought for a second that Stiles heard me. He twitched when I slammed the door and his heartbeat picked up slightly, but it was probably just in response to Peter being here. Guess it's just wishful thinking." Scott said, giving Lydia a sad smile.

They drove for a while in silence, Stiles staring at the road like he wanted to punch it. "Don't feel bad." Peter said as Stiles huffed in annoyance. "If she lives she'll become a werewolf. She'll be incredibly powerful."

"Yeah and once a month she'll go out of her freaking mind and try to tear me apart."

"Well actually considering she's a woman, twice a month." Peter said casually. In the back seat, Lydia cringed and groaned in embarrassment at Peter basically talking about her period with nonchalance. She decided to just stare out the window and pretend this conversation wasn't happening. Or rather never happened. In the front row, Stiles was staring at Peter with his mouth open and eyes narrowed, and Scott knew that as his look of annoyance as if saying "please just shut up". He slowly turned his eyes back to the road and proceeded to ignore Peter the remainder of the drive. Peter went along with it except when he shouted directions on where to go.

They pulled into a parking garage and into an empty space. As they piled out of the jeep, Peter moved over to Stiles and pulled him by the back of the neck, practically dragging him over a few cars. Scott's hands curled into fists. Peter brought out a set of keys and began rifling through them to find the right one.

"Whose car is this?"

"It belonged to my nurse." Peter said casually, opening the trunk.

"What happened to your nu- **_oh my God!_** " Stiles shrieked as he saw a bruised and battered body of a woman in the trunk of the car. Peter moved the dead woman's arm out of the way and retrieved a bag from her clutches, handing it to Stiles who was still staring at the body with a gaping mouth.

Peter looked between the dead body and Stiles. "I got better." He stated, closing the trunk. Stiles looked at Peter with disgust, clearly wondering what the hell was wrong with him as Peter snatched back the bag and placed it on the trunk. He opened it to bring out a phone and a laptop.

"Yeah good luck getting a signal down here- oh. Wifi. And you're a Mac guy, does that go for all werewolves or just a personal preference?" Lydia rolled her eyes as Peter looked at her friend in annoyance. It was always the same with Stiles. Whenever he felt nervous or threatened, he resorted to talking. More specifically, sarcasm. He had a knack for it too, always had a retort for everything.

"Turn it on, get connected."

"You're really killing the whole werewolf mystique thing here." Stiles said, turning over the wifi hot-spot and inserting the details into the laptop. Stiles cleared his throat "Look you still need Scott's username and password and I'm sorry but I don't know those."

"You know both of them."

"No. I don't." Stiles insisted.

"Even if I couldn't hear your heartbeat, I would still be able to tell that you were lying."

"I swear to God-" Stiles started, but before he could finish that sentence, Peter grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his face into the laptop. Stiles grunted in surprise and pain as Peter kept his face planted into the keyboard. Scott moved forward, claws extending, but Lydia grabbed his arm.

"I can be very persuasive Stiles. Don't make me persuade you." Scott instinctively growled, but didn't move any closer. Stiles twitched, as if trying to pick his head up off the car, but Peter had it in a firm grip.

"Okay, okay, okay." He said, and Peter let him go. Stiles cast a nervous glance back to Peter but started typing more information into the computer. "What happens after you find Derek?"

"Don't think, Stiles-type!" Peter shouted. Stiles typed a couple more keys before closing his eyes as if debating whether or not to ask. "You're gonna kill people, aren't you?"

"Only the responsible ones." Peter said, looking at Stiles.

"Look if I do this? You have to promise to leave Scott out of it." Scott's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Stiles was the one Peter had just kidnapped, the one who could be killed the second he typed in what the alpha wanted to know, the one whose life was in immediate danger- and yet he was negotiating with the murderer on his behalf? Scott was touched at his best friends devotion. Even then, before he really knew how deep they would get into the supernatural world, Stiles seemed to care more about his best friends life than his own. Peter took a deep breath before turning back to the teenager next to him.

"Do you know why wolves hunt in packs? It's because their favorite prey are too large to be brought down by one wolf alone. I need Derek **and** Scott. I need both of them." Scott tensed. Peter should have known that Scott would never help him kill anyone, especially Allison and her family.

"He's not going to help you." Stiles said, and Scott nodded in approval and appreciation. Stiles knew him so well.

"Oh he will. Because- it will save Allison." Stiles looked away, knowing he was right. "And _you_ will, because it will save Scott. Your best friend, whom you know so well." Stiles closed his eyes in frustration and looked back at the laptop. "You even have his username, and password." Stiles took a deep breath, pausing before he typed in Scotts username. Scott cringed in embarrassment at his then-password. Peter looked at dubiously. "His username… is Allison?" he said, and Stiles typed in his password. Scott covered his face with his hand as Peter looked at Stiles in disbelief. "His password is also Allison?" From behind him, Scott heard Lydia let out a snort of laughter as she clapped her hand over her mouth, trying to keep back her giggles.

"Yeah yeah, I know." He said to her, trying to hide his blush.

"Still want him in your pack?" Stiles asked, making Scott blush harder in embarrassment. Nothing said obsessed more than everything on his phone being about Allison. Immense irritation passed over Peters face and he had to pace back and forth once in frustration.

"Scott should we go? You tested him in the car, and he's not in any immediate danger right?"

"Yeah. Yeah but he's alone here. With Peter." Scott said, looking back at Lydia.

"Scott this already happened. We can't change it- Stiles was fine."

"I know but- I don't know there's a reason we're here right? I just feel like we're missing something. And not just this one memory but in all of them. I feel like we're missing something- something really important."

"Like what?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know." Scott said, looking lost. Stiles' voice brought Scott back to the scene in front of him.

"Wait what-that's where they're keeping him? His own house?" Peter was looking at the map in confusion until something clicked and he smirked.

"Not at it. _Under_ it. I know exactly where that is." Out of nowhere, a howl echoed into the garage, and Peters head whipped towards it in recognition. Scott recognized it as Derek, and knew that he had to be calling out for help. "And I'm not the only one." The alpha began packing up the supplies, stuffing everything into the bag as Stiles stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do. Peter threw everything into the back of the car and turned back to Stiles. "Give me your keys."

Stiles looked up towards the ceiling and huffed deeply, drawing his key ring out of his pocket and handing them to the werewolf reluctantly. "Careful, she grinds in second." He advised, but instead of walking towards the jeep, Peter grabbed the keys and gripped them tight before letting them dangle from his fist, completely bent out of shape. Stiles looked at them in surprise and irritation before taking them back from the alpha. Peter turned around and opened the driver's side door to the car. "So you're not going to kill me?" Stiles asked. Scott closed his eyes in exasperation and he could practically see Lydia rolling her eyes to the ceiling from behind him. Why the hell would he say something like that right when it was clear he wasn't? It could have made Peter change his mind and simply snap his neck right there. He opened his eyes and stared at his best friend, moving his jaw in anger. For a pretty clever guy, Stiles could be a bit ignorant sometimes.

Peter turned around and took a slow step towards Stiles. Stiles took a step back and swallowed in fear. "Oh God." He said nervously.

"Don't you understand yet? I'm not the bad guy here."

"You turn into a giant monster with red eyes and fangs and you're not the bad guy here?"

"Oh my God Stiles- shut up!" Lydia said loudly in annoyance, coming to a stop right next to Scott in back of the car.

Peter tilted his head back and looked at the teenager in front of him. "I like you Stiles." Stiles looked around with agitation for Peter once again ignoring his question. "Since you helped me, I'm going to give you something in return. Do you want the bite?" He asked casually, as if he didn't care at all. Scott and Stiles heads snapped to look at Peter with shock, while Lydia inched closer to Stiles, fear for him making her inch closer as if to protect him in some way.

"What?"

"Do you want. The _bite._ " Peter said slowly. "If it doesn't kill you, and it could, you'll become like us."

Stiles eyes shifted to the side as if in thought, and Scott stared at his face, trying to read all the emotions crossing it. He'd never known Peter once offered him the bite. He'd never even thought to ask his best friend if he'd ever thought about it; if he'd ever wanted it. He had always figured that if he had, he'd ask for it. Since he hadn't, Scott assumed he'd rather stay human. But the look on Stiles face in this memory suggested that he was actually contemplating it. But then his eyes hardened as they shifted back to Peter. "Like you." He said as if with conviction.

"Yes- a werewolf. Would you like me to draw you a picture." He said sarcastically. "That first night in the woods I took Scott because I needed a new pack. It could have just as easily been you. You'd be every bit as powerful as him." Stiles began looking elsewhere, thinking. Scott felt sick. "No more standing by his side watching him become stronger, and quicker, more popular, watching him get the girl… You'd be equals. Maybe more." Scott hated the way Stiles looked as he swallowed. He knew Stiles was tempted. That he was actually considering it. He didn't resist at all as Peter grabbed his arm and brought it up to the side of his mouth. Stiles stood there, looking uncertain. "Yes or no?" Peter asked. Stiles stood there, looking between his outstretched arm and Peter, uncertainty written on his face.

"Stiles…" Lydia said from behind him, eyes only on his outstretched wrist, where Peters mouth was closest to his flesh. When Stiles didn't answer the alpha, Peter's fangs elongated and he moved his mouth towards Stiles' wrist. Scott tensed. Just as Peters mouth was about to close around Stiles' arm, Stiles ripped it out from Peters grip. He looked angry as Peter drew his head back, fangs retreating.

"I don't want to be like you." Stiles said with determination.

But Peters eyes narrowed. "Do you know what I heard just then? Your heart beating slightly faster over the words I. Don't. Want." Stiles looked around uncomfortably before returning to Peter. "You may believe you're telling me the truth but you are lying to yourself. Goodbye Stiles." He said, turning back and entering the car. Stiles opened his mouth as if to say something, whether to say he changed his mind or to tell some witty comeback, Scott didn't know. Stiles closed his mouth and got out of the way as Peter backed out of the space and drove away. He stood there staring after the car for a couple of minutes. Lydia reached for his hand to show support, knowing what would happen, but trying to touch him anyways.

Scott was staring after Peter when he heard Lydia gasp. His head whipped around to face her. "Lydia? What's wrong?" He said, turning back and walking the few steps over to her. "It's Stiles he- for a minute when I reached for his hand I- Scott I touched his hand." She said, looking at her hand in front of her like it was something she'd never seen before.

" _What_?" Scott said, reaching over to Stiles and putting his hand through him. His heart sunk. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"I still can't. Try again!" he said quickly. Lydia reached out, but when she tried to touch Stiles' hand, it slipped right through. "I don't understand. Scott, I felt his hand, I know I did. It was only for a second but- Scott I swear I'm telling the truth. I don't understand what happened."

"Lydia it's okay, I believe you. But what could that mean?"

"I don't know. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe I've been wrong this whole time." Lydia said, eyes watering as she turned to stand directly in front of Stiles. It hurt to see the way he looked right through her, just like at the hospital. Just like the times she had begged him to wake up, to come back to them. Just like then, he seemed to ignore her.

"If you were then… now what? Why are we here? And how do we find Stiles?" The memory was fading around them, and Scott reached out his hand. She looked down at it for a second, still lost in thought before grabbing it and turning away from Stiles empty gaze and into Scott's worried one.

"I don't know" Lydia whispered fearfully. The darkness became prominent, and they were somewhere else.


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks to everyone who reads this it means a lot that you've stayed with me this far :) Thanks also for the reviews and in response to some of you guys;**

 **DrewSb and Shadow-wolf78 thanks for commenting on all the chapters I'm glad you guys like and review all of them it's nice to know how everyone thinks! :)**

 **Art33mis- Glad you found this and liked it! I was glad to hear that when you found my fic you couldn't stop reading! It made my day haha**

 **and as for the guest the other day (you know who you are :) ) I do plan on making a nod to that scene and I agree with you on why he rejected the bite :)**

 **Still have lots of writing to do for this story but hope you like it and please review!**

CHAPTER 19

The world brightened and Scott and Lydia found themselves in the middle of a cemetery surrounded by people in black clothing. In the middle of it all sat a coffin, behind witch sat Mr. Stilinski and a ten year old Stiles, eyes downcast. A pastor seemed to be talking about Mrs. Stilinski as if he knew her, about how wonderful she was and how she was gone too soon. Lydia cast her eyes away and back to Scott.

"So what do we do now?" Scott asked. Lydia threw her head back in frustration and sat down on the grass. Scott raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and joined her on the ground nearby as Lydia began plucking the grass from the ground. "Okay then, I'll take that as another 'I don't know'. Why don't we go over what we _do_ know?" He asked.

Lydia sighed. "Well my original thought was that Stiles was throwing these memories at us because it was his defense mechanism for people like Theo to keep them from getting to the real him. That he just didn't know it was us in here. But then that wouldn't quite make sense with the type of memories he was throwing at us. They've all been at points in his life where something was seriously wrong. He's always getting hurt in some capacity."

Scott nodded. "Right. And we've also figured out how to move between memories more quickly by getting away from Stiles because they focus on things from his point of view."

"Exactly. But then we realized that if he was trying to distract someone like Theo from getting to him, why use memories that are emotionally alluring to someone who cares about him? Clearly Theo didn't. Which begged the question if he actually knew it was us. If he does, then why has he been hiding from us, and if he doesn't, then why _these_ memories." Lydia put her head in her hands. "I just feel so helpless. Why haven't we found him yet?"

Scott put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey. We'll find him. We have to." He said with determination. Lydia nodded, but didn't look up. Scott cleared his throat. "Okay so the only other thing we really know is that we've never been able to touch Stiles or any of the people in here. We've assumed that when we find Stiles, we'll be able to touch him and bring him back. But if you touched him in the last memory for just a second, what could that mean?" Lydia lifted her head in thought.

"Oh my God" She whispered. How could I have been so stupid! Remember on the hospital roof? My second theory. How Stiles might be having bad memories surface in his mind because he was in a state of fear when Theo entered it. So if that's true, then who's to say that his mind has trapped him in the same loop?"

"What do you mean? That he's trapped somewhere in here because of fear?"

"Yes and no. I think he's being tricked by his own subconscious into reliving his most fearful moments, but that also means that maybe Stiles has been here the whole time. The _real_ Stiles."

"But how is that possible if we haven't been able to even touch him, get his attention, anything?"

"Think about it. Last time we went in his mind, he couldn't hear us then either. The nogitsune had him in that white room distracting him with that game of _go_. But this time he's distracting himself with these memories and he can't get himself out. We never touched him when we were rescuing him from the nogitsune, we don't know if he was tangible. Maybe he wasn't until we got his attention. For us it's like he's not even there because he's so wrapped up in what he's seeing and feeling he _can't_ notice us."

"…Maybe he has." Scott said, thinking.

"What do you mean?"

"A few times now I could have sworn Stiles saw us, but it was only for a second and I always thought it was just wishful thinking. That i'd imagined it. But what if it wasn't? What if for the briefest of seconds, Stiles was breaking through his fear and could hear or see us? Just like when he flinched in the jeep."

"And in Eichen house." Scott looked at her in confusion. "When you growled at Oliver, I could have sworn Stiles looked at you, but it was so quick I just brushed it off because my hand had gone through him. I should have realized it sooner."

"Hey I didn't figure it out either. But there's one thing I don't understand. If it's been Stiles with us every time, reliving these moments of fear, why hasn't he realized? How could he regress to different points in time and not notice? How can he be there-" Scott said, pointing to the ten year old Stiles sitting in silence at his mother's grave as people began heading to their cars. "And not realize that ten minutes ago he was 16 years old talking to a mass murdering psychopath? Why string him through all these memories in the first place, and not just one in repeat, like Theo attacking him or something."

Lydia went quiet, thinking. Then she muttered something so quietly, even Scott's super-hearing didn't pick it up. "What?" he asked, and Lydia looked up, a slight smirk on her lips.

"If you're going through Hell, keep going."

"Isn't that a Winston Churchill quote?"

"Yes. Ms. Morrell said it to him in his office. Maybe it's something like that. Like he's trapped in his own hell, and subconsciously he's trying to escape but he's trapped. So he just keeps moving from memory to memory. But whenever he gets to a new memory he can't fight it because his mind reverts back to the way it was in that same moment. Everything is the same, so he doesn't know any different. He's back in that moment, and nothing besides what is happening in that moment is clear to him. We've just been coming along for the ride. That ten year old Stiles kneeling next to his mother's grave?" Lydia said, walking towards the two Stilinski boys. "That is _our_ Stiles trapped in the thoughts of his ten year old self. In this moment he doesn't know that he's 18 years old or that his mom died eight years ago. That Stiles' is in the state of mind where a couple days ago he watched him mom die in front of him. He's reliving burying her body as if it's happening right now for the first time."

Scott looked at his best friend in sympathy. It was bad enough having to live through these memories once, but having to physically and emotionally get thrust back into them again?

"Come on you gotta get up now. Stiles, you need to get up." Mr Stilinski was saying as little Stiles stared at the coffin his mother lay in. Scott's eyes were drawn to the lost look on Stiles. He looked heartbroken and so young. "Hey." Mr. Stilinski said. "You still got me." Little Stiles nodded and got up, letting his dad lead him away from the grave site. Scott remembered Stiles saying to him how he couldn't lose both his parents. He remembered the overwhelming panic he had sensed through chemo-signals when his dad was dying from the chimera attack. His dad was the only family he had left. It made sense that he was always worried about him. This was the day he realized that he still had his dad- that he _only_ had his dad. "So how do we reach him? How do we make him see us?"

"Well we can try the same way as last time. It worked didn't it? Scott- roar." Scott smiled and began transforming. But the world was dimming and by the time he was in his wolf form, they were in a much smaller space. The back of an ambulance to be exact, and with two people already in it, there wasn't exactly all that much room. Stiles was closing the back door to the ambulance when Scott and Lydia appeared on the bench opposite of him. Right below them lay an unconscious Cora on a stretcher. "Okay, okay okay, we're okay, we're alright, are you okay, how you doing?" Stiles said quickly, looking at the unconscious Cora. He paused. "What- Why do you look like you're not breathing?"

"What?" Scott said, listening to Cora's heart barely beating. Stiles brought his head closer to Cora's chest as he tried to listen to her breathing. "Because you aren't breathing are you? Oh no oh God, oh God okay you're not breathing come on. Okay…" He said, putting his hands on the top and bottom of her head nervously. "Okay you can do this here we go, tilt the head, fingers on the chin clear the throat." He said, doing the steps as he recited them from memory. "Great nothing, I see nothing. Okay, alright so uh, just pinch the nose and.. blow." He said as he took a deep breath and blew into Cora's mouth.

"Scott, you're still transformed. Roar. Get his attention." She said quickly.

"But he's saving Cora's life. What happens to her if I get his attention now?" He asked, Lydia looked at him like he was a kid.

"Scott? This is Stiles mind remember? This is a memory. Cora? She's fine. She's in South America somewhere. Stiles is the one whose comatose out in the real world. Now roar."

"Uh… I can't right now."

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, aghast. "Are you seriously having performance issues right now?" Lydia asked. Scott flushed from his cheeks to his ears. It was an odd thing seeing it on Scott's wolf face. It should be when he's most intimidating, but seeing him blush took any fear of him away from her. Not that she was scared of him in the first place. It was just Scott under all that wolf-ness after all.

"No it's just that, it's so cramped in here I don't have room to build up a good breath and belt it out you know?" He said, blushing harder.

Lydia's eyes were on the roof of the ambulance as she mouthed 'unbelievable' inaudibly to herself.

"Come on Cora breathe." Stiles was saying, bringing his mouth down on hers once again. Finally, Cora inhaled a breath and Stiles sat back, mouth open in surprise and relief. He took a deep breath "You know next time I put my lips to your mouth you better be awake." He said. Lydia, who had brought her gaze back to Stiles, now looked right back up at the ceiling, eyes closed. She could feel the irritation bubbling beneath the surface. She wasn't even sure who she was annoyed with at this point. Scott? Stiles? Cora? Herself? All of the above? It was up in the air.

"You just hold on a little longer okay? Trust me if anyone's going to get us out of this it's Scott." Scott looked up at Stiles. He was still surprised at the amount of faith he had for him. Just a few years ago they were at the bottom of the high school popularity list. One bite from Peter had completely changed all of their lives. Who knew so much could change in just a few years? But if there was one thing that hadn't, it was Stiles being there for him; being his best friend. He'd always believed in Scott, even when Scott hadn't believed in himself.

"I can't believe I just said that. You know I actually used to be the one with the plan. Well at least a plan B." Lydia looked back at Stiles. He sounded upset, like something weighed on him deeply. Given the circumstances, she didn't blame him. There was almost always something to worry in their group of friends. "I don't know, now I'm thinking maybe you were right, you know maybe-maybe we are pretty much useless. Maybe all we really do is show up and find the bodies." Stiles was tapping his thumb on his hand, a nervous tick. In the close knit quarters it wasn't hard to see Stiles eyes well up. "I don't want to find my father's body." He whispered, voice shaking. Scott remembered that his dad had been taken by the durac at this point. After what they'd just witnessed at the cemetery, he didn't really blame Stiles for being so scared. Stiles brought his arm up and wiped his eyes before taking another deep breath.

"You know you're a lot easier to talk to when you're completely unconscious." He said, laughing just a little to himself.

Lydia cleared her throat, hand brushing her eye quickly before opening up the back of the ambulance. "Scott get out here."

"What, why?"

Lydia looked at him incredulously. "Because we're still trying to get Stiles back remember? You said you needed more space, so get. out. here." Just then a loud noise rang out behind Lydia, and she tuned towards the noise as Stiles shrank back out of sight. Behind her, Lydia saw the merged form of the twins as they sauntered past, and she stepped away from them towards the ambulance. "Aiden…" Scott heard the hurt in her voice, before she tilted her head to the side. "You know I never really saw them merged? It's a bit creepy... I guess I just assumed they'd look like themselves just… bigger. You know, since they're identical." She said. When they were out of sight, the med bay began darkening and Lydias head whipped towards Scott. "Damn. Out of time." She said, holding out her hand to him. Scott grabbed it carefully, trying not to scratch her with his claws. He began to let them recede as to not let them cut her, but she snapped her head towards his. "Scott McCall don't you dare let yourself de-transform the minute we get to the next memory you are roaring and we are getting Stiles back." She said ferociously.

Scotts eyebrows skyrocketed and he smirked. "Yes ma'am." He said sarcastically. Lydia slapped his shoulder, smirking, and they were gone.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

They were back at the hospital next to a window looking into a computer room. In the reflection of the glass Lydia noticed a doctor looking over a clipboard. She turned to see Mr. Stilinski and Mrs. McCall talking to him. She turned again and saw Stiles in a hospital gown sitting on a table leading to an MRI machine, Scott next to him. They were silent, looking unsure of what to say. While past Scott looked nervous, Stiles just looked defeated. From next to her, Scott closed his eyes in recognition. Lydia squeezed his hand. "You okay?" she asked. Scott opened his eyes and nodded.

"Stiles." The doctor said, going over to the boys. "You're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going to the metal coils inside the machine. If you want we can get you some earplugs or headphones."

"Uh no. No I don't need anything" Stiles said, shaking his head. He scratched his temple, looking vulnerable.

"Hey. We're just on the other side of that window, okay?" His dad said in assurance.

"Okay." Stiles responded, but his face didn't change. The sheriff smiled in reassurance, but his eyes were full of fear. Stiles clapped his hand on his dads shoulder, inaudibly telling him he was okay before him and Scott's mom followed the doctor from the MRI room to the technician room on the other side of the window. Lydia and Scott were left alone with Scott's younger self and Stiles.

"You know what they're looking for right?" Scott seemed to shake his head vaguely, not making eye contact with Stiles, as if he knew but he didn't quite understand what it was.

"What are they looking for?" Lydia asked, but Scott just nodded towards Stiles.

"It's called frontal temporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to... shrink. It's what my mother had." Stiles said, not looking at Scott. Lydia looked over to Scott "When the hell did this happen? He doesn't-"

"No. It was the nogitsune. It was trying to distract us with this, while also trying to make Stiles lose hope. But we didn't know any of that at the time. It's actually a possibility since his mom… well, you know, you saw. This was the day after he went missing while sleepwalking remember? This was the test I told you about." Lydias stomach churned at the thought that, though this wasn't happening now, it was a possibility for Stiles' future. One day this scenario could be very real. It could lay dormant in his genes. After witnessing firsthand what it did to his mother, she didn't want to even entertain that thought of losing Stiles that way. She knew when she got out of this hell, she'd be doing a lot of research on this topic to make sure she knew the signs just in case.

"It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers… and there's no cure." Past Scott closed his eyes before blinking rapidly as a tear escaped his eye. He wiped it away quickly, looking devastated but clearly trying to be brave for his best friend. "Stiles if you have it- we'll do something." Stiles looked unsure, but Scott looked up and met his eyes. "I'll do something." He said with determination. Stiles nodded, but he looked scared. He reached out and pulled Scott into a hug. Scott hugged him back tightly, as if trying to assure both his best friend and himself. As if he was hugging him for what could be the last time. Stiles eyes were closed and he looked like he was fighting tears. It was the most vulnerable Lydia had ever seen Stiles, and she had the overwhelming desire to look away, knowing she was intruding on a private moment. She felt sick that he could be so scared and look so defeated. Like he'd already lost hope. No. She wouldn't see him in pain anymore. They had to get him the hell out of here. They had to rescue him from himself.

The doctors voice came over the intercom, saying they were ready to start, and the past version of Scott looked at Stiles once more before exiting the room. He didn't seem to join their parents in the technician room but instead he walked down the hallway, looking down at the floor the whole time.

"Scott, please. Roar. Let's get him out of here." Lydia said, moving next to Stiles and placing his hand on his. It went through, but she knew it wouldn't for long.

Scott suddenly remembered the first time he'd heard about this technique. It was right after he'd been turned, but before he'd even realized it. In fact, he hadn't realized it at all. Stiles had. He'd researched about werewolves all night long and started raving about wolf facts to Scott the next day. How wolves hunt in packs and how they howl to signal their location when they were separated from each other. Stiles had always been pretty observant; apparently to the point where he realized Scott had been turned into a werewolf before even he knew it himself. He remembered how he'd yelled at Stiles for wasting his time when he had to get ready for his first date with Allison. How he'd accused him of trying to ruin the perfect moment in his life and how he'd gotten so frustrated he'd pushed Stiles against the wall and almost punched him. Stiles' face in that moment wasn't something he would be able to forget. It was one of the first times they'd ever fought. And yet Stiles had forgiven him fairly quickly. Just like he always did. He'd come through for Scott. Now it was time to do the same for him.

Scott blinked rapidly and made eye contact with Lydia. He nodded, resolve driving his features as he inhaled a vast amount of air. He used everything he was feeling- all of his guilt at not being there for Stiles in his times of need, his pain at seeing how often his friend was hurt, his anger at himself, his grief he'd felt for the last week at comatose Stiles- he used it all as fuel.

His eyes seemed to ignite as he let out an ear-splitting roar so loud it left Lydia covering her ringing ears, surprised at the ferocity.

The ground seemed to vibrate and the walls shook with the thundering noise, and just as the room went quiet again, Stiles looked up at Scott. Not through him, or around him, but _at_ him. His eyes crinkled in confusion as his gaze went from the door where past Scott had just left, to the present one in wolf form. "Scott?"

Scotts heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He transformed back as he walked over to his best friend. "Stiles!" he said, smile lighting up his features. Lydia cautiously put a hand on his shoulder. Relief washed over her as it made contact with his hospital robe. She squeezed his shoulder as if to confirm it was real.

"God it's good to see you." She said, but as she looked up to Stiles, he was looking at his shoulder in confusion before casting his eyes around the room.

"What the hell?" He whispered.

"All right Stiles I need you to lay down now and be very still." The doctors voice came through the intercom. Suddenly, Lydia's hand sank through his shoulder and she nearly fell over, thrown off balance. "What-" she said, looking at Stiles in confusion. His eyes were scanning the room, never really landing on Scott or Lydia, who were now both right in front of him.

The slightest bit of fear entered his eyes, and he swallowed, bringing his legs up onto the table and laying down. "I'm losing my freaking mind." He whispered as the table began moving him into the MRI machine.

"Okay Stiles, this is going to take about 45 minutes to an hour. Now remember, try not to move. Even just a little bit."

"What just happened?" Lydia asked. She tried to grab Stiles hand, but it sank through to the table. She went to the side of the machine, close to the mouth of the MRI. "Stiles? Can you hear me? Stiles!" Stiles stared at the roof of the machine as Scott looked over at her in worry, "Lydia?" he asked.

"I don't- I don't understand. He saw you- he _heard_ you. We reached him… so why didn't it work?"

"Stiles you're going to hear that noise now. It's going to be a loud clanging. Kind of like a hammer hitting an anvil." Suddenly a loud noise radiated through the small room that was horrifyingly familiar, and Lydia jumped at the sound, covering her ears. She remembered that sound haunting her the day after Stiles was found in the woods, hypothermic and discombobulated. It had gotten louder and louder until she couldn't hold it anymore, and she'd screamed. She knew it was a warning, but she couldn't figure out what it meant, and she'd been so scared that she'd be wrong again. This had to be what she'd been sensing.

Scott was staring at his best friend. They were so close to getting through to him. Now that they'd figured out the real Stiles had been with them all along, it should have been easy. He'd done the same thing that was required last time they were here. The same thing that had woken Stiles from his mind last time they'd been forced to enter it. What went wrong? What was different in here?

Scott noticed the minute Stiles face began to fall, he looked like he was beginning to have a panic attack. "Stiles?" he yelled over the sound of the MRI. "Stiles- hey hey hey- calm down Stiles it's going to be okay." He said, hoping that some part of him could still hear him. Stiles seemed to be mildly panicking, and squeezed his eyes tight in an effort to keep himself calm.

Without warning the world tilted sideways and Scott seemed to be falling into darkness. It wasn't like before when a memory switched, it was more a whirling motion of stumbling down an unfamiliar path. When the dizziness passed, Scott opened his eyes to find himself still in the MRI room, but it was different. Stiles stood in front of the machine in his normal clothes, and the room was immersed in darkness. Lydia stood next to him, waving her hand in front of Stiles face, to no avail.

Out of nowhere, the blurry figure of the nogitsune emerged from the shadows and darted behind Stiles. Stiles turned his head and saw him jumping out of his eyesight, and started walking around the MRI machine so he wouldn't lose sight of him.

"Have you figured out my riddle yet?" The creature asked, coming around the other side of the machine. "If you answer correctly, we might consider letting them go." He said tauntingly as Stiles stopped and faced him from the other side of the table.

"Letting who go?" Stiles asked, voice shaking just a little.

"Your friends," it whispered "Your family." it looked over through the glass window where Scotts mom and Stiles dad appeared shadow-like, talking to one another. " _Everyone who ever meant something to you._ We're going to destroy allll of them Stiles!" The nogitsune said, voice rising before creeping back to a whisper. "One. By. One." Scott kept his guard up and stood in front of his friends, but Lydia was looking at Stiles. She saw the fear creep into his eyes as tears began to spill over.

"Why?" Stiles asked, tears falling freely now as his voice shook, betraying his fear. Scott turned his head back to his best friend in pity. He hated that Stiles had to deal with all of this alone. That no one had really known what was happening until it was too late.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?" The fox turned his head to Stiles, waiting for his response. Stiles shook his head in frustration as tears continued to slip down his face.

"I don't know-"

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?" It said again, a bit louder this time, as if annoyed.

"I don't know." Stiles whispered, desperation on his face.

" **EVERYONE HAS IT**." The nogitsune began screaming, and Stiles turned away from him in terror, putting his hands over his ears. " **BUT NO ONE CAN LOSE IT** " The bandaged man-like creature howled, tearing at his bandages fiercely. " **WHAT. IS IT?!** " it screamed again. Stiles was clutching his head as the nogitsune tore at his wrappings, flinging parts of them to the floor. " **WHAT. IS IT?!** " It screeched, leaning down as he grasped the last of the bandages.

" _I DON'T KNOW!_ " Stiles shouted, but then his eyes snapped open and his face went blank. And Scott knew. He'd figured it out. "A shadow." He whispered in horror as he began turning to face the creature once more. Everything seemed to go quiet at once and Lydia gripped Scotts hand as tears running down his face at the pain this was causing his brother. In front of them, the nogitssune was removing his last layer, and looked up slowly. It was wearing Stiles face with a vicious and cunning look displayed across it. Half of his face immersed in shadow as he smirked. Stiles screamed and seemed to be pulled back into darkness, disappearing into a black hole.

"STILES!" Scott screamed, but the room was spinning again and Scott found himself and Lydia back in the brightly lit room of the hospital, looking back at Stiles' body in the MRI machine. His eyes snapped open, and he tilted his head. Stiles was gone.

"We need to figure something out. Now." Scott said, looking from nogitsune to banshee. "He's living these like it's the first time- and no one should have to go through this at all let alone a second time."

"I know. But the roar didn't work. So how else do we reach him?"

"I don't know. But we need to work fast. We've been in here to long as it is."

Lydia nodded, and they were gone.

...

 **A/N: Hey everyone! You had to know it wouldn't be that easy O.o please don't hate me haha Anyways new chapter in a few days. Please review :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like the chapter! Enjoy and please review!**

CHAPTER 21

They were once again in front of the animal clinic, and Scott shivered as he remembered the night they'd found Stiles, catatonic on the floor. It felt like so long ago now. Scott looked to the side and noticed Stiles in his jeep. Unfortunately, sitting next to him was Theo.

Rage twisted in his gut and his hands curled into fists, eyes turning red as his mouth twisted up and he let out a snarl. He'd never wanted to attack someone so bad in his life. He couldn't believe he'd ever trusted him. He knew half of his anger was directed at himself- for believing him, trusting him, for not trusting Stiles, and for letting Theo get to his best friend in the first place. If he'd only protected Stiles better, they'd never had had to invade his mind again. But Scott also knew that most of it was because of everything Theo had cost them. He'd been the one to pretend to be honest, the one who lead them into traps, the person who told Donovan to kill Stiles, the one to blackmail him, the person who'd turned Scott against his best friend, and his own pack against him. He was the one responsible for hurting Lydia, for hurting Stiles, who let his own sister die, and who had killed him in the library. His heart was beating out of control as fury pulsed through him, and Lydia stepped in front of him with her hands up, blocking his view of the guys.

"Calm down Scott. You literally can't touch him remember? This isn't really him."

"Still wondering why I haven't said anything to Scott?" Scott heard Theo say from behind Lydia.

"Maybe."

"You think I've got some ulterior motive?

"More than likely."

"Would you believe me if I said all I want, all I've ever wanted- was for you guys to trust me?"

"Nope." Stiles without hesitation. Scott smirked, his anger fading slightly. Stiles had always been a pretty honest person, especially when he didn't like you.

"So you're here because you're never going to trust me."

"Yup. Glad we had this talk." Stiles said dismissively. Lydia was looking at Scott. Slowly, he unclenched his fists and his eyes turned back to brown as he slowed his breathing. Lydia brought her hands down and stepped away, turning to face the jeep.

"You know who you remind me of?"

"Theo I don't care…" Stiles said, looking over at the Theo with complete apathy.

"My sister" Theo continued, ignoring Stiles' remark. Stiles looked away with a 'what the hell' face, and looked away from Theo uncomfortably.

"She was smarter then everyone too. And a pain in the ass like you. She always looked out for me. Same way you look out for Scott." Stiles looked back at Theo as Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah except their relationship isn't one sided. Scott would never watch Stiles die without remorse or guilt as he stood by doing nothing." She muttered. Scott nodded, eyes hard.

"You know I was the one who found her body."

"Oh bullshit!" Lydia yelled, before clapping her hand over her mouth and looking at Scott. "Sorry." She whispered.

"She'd fallen into a creek. Broken her leg." Stiles looked uncomfortable, like he felt bad for him. Lydia hated that he was falling for it. "They said she would have been fine if it hadn't been one of the coldest nights of the year. If it wasn't for the hypothermia. When I found her, all I could think of was that I should have known. That I should have been looking out for her." Lydia threw her hands in the air and turned around, walking a few feet away before turning and coming back to stand next to Scott. Her jaw was set, and she looked pissed. Even more so because he sounded so genuine. If she hadn't personally seen what had happened while she'd been at Eichen house, she would have believed him too.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you because even if you don't trust me and even if you don't like me? I'm still going to be looking out for you." Stiles looked up at him, skeptical, but both Scott and Lydia saw that he was buying into it just the smallest bit. And they both hated it. "I uh, saw his teeth. Donovan. He was a wendigo, wasn't he?"

Stiles nodded, guilt clouding his eyes. "Yeah"

"That's the cannibal one right?"

Stiles looked uncomfortable as Theo turned his eyes to him. "Native American. It's says that uh, if you eat human flesh, your punishment was to turn into a creature that constantly craved it." Theo looked grossed out and shifted in his seat.

"That's a pretty judgmental myth." He said.

"Well I didn't make it up."

"What if it was the only way to survive. You ever hear of the Donner party? I'm pretty sure they didn't turn into wendigos."

"Well they didn't live in Beacon hills."

"Good point… So what's the punishment for killing a chimera?" Stiles nodded like he'd been expecting the question. Theo had always been pretty blunt.

"You get to spend 5 hours in a car with Theo Raeken." Stiles said half sarcastically. Theo laughed, but Stiles didn't bother to. "Look I know what my punishment it. I'm gonna lose my best friend." She looked down at his hands on the steering wheel. "I'll lose Scott." Scotts gut twisted, and guilt once again washed over him as he remembered the way he'd reacted at the clinic. He'd reacted the same exact way Stiles had feared- the same way he'd thought he would. And he hated himself for it.

"No-If Scott really gave up on you because of some piece of crap like Donnovan then he wouldn't be a true alpha would he?"

"Maybe that's the definition of one-someone that doesn't out up with murder?"

"It sounds like you guys need to look up justifiable homicide." Stiles looked out him in surprise and idiocy. "Did you seriously just say that to a son of a cop?"

"A werewolfs eyes are supposed to change color when they take an innocent life. Theos eyes turned yellow. "These look blue to you?" Stiles was looking at Theo with distrust, trying to figure out his angle. "It was self-defense. For me and for you." Knowing exactly why Theos eyes weren't blue, and seeing how he used even that to his advantage just raised the level of anger in Lydia. She hoped Stiles didn't fall for it.

"Wait he killed someone and Stiles knew? When did that happen?" Scott asked.

"No idea. But Theo must have blackmailed him to keep quiet."

"Or maybe you just don't feel all that bad about it. You can't say that one life is objectively less innocent than another one, what if they turn blue because you feel guilty?" Stiles asked, and Lydia smiled.

"So it's up for interpretation?" Theo said disbelievingly.

"Yeah maybe."

"Okay- but here's my interpretation of what happened with you and Donovan." He looked right in Stiles eyes and said with conviction "Not guilty." Stiles seemed unsure of what to say. Lydia knew he wanted to believe him, but distrust got in the way. "Do you feel bad about it?" Theo asked, and Stiles looked at him point blank as if he was one of the most stupid people he'd ever met in his life. "Not now I mean right then- right when it happened? What were you thinking the moment you knew he was dead and there was no saving him?" Stiles shook his head, like he didn't know, but then his eyes went out of focus and he looked straight forward. Lydia could see him placing himself back at the scene-in the moment.

"One word." He said confidently. "Good." Stiles stared out the windshield, guilt in his eyes, but it was Theo who drew Scotts attention. He was looking at Stiles with a small grin, like he'd been looking for something dark within him and he finally got confirmation. Scott remembered Stiles telling him what happened the night his dad was attacked. How Theo had come to him and told him about Scott and his father being attacked. How he'd only be able to get to one of them. How he'd finally told Stiles why he was really there- how he wanted an extraordinary pack with Malia, Lydia, Liam, and void Stiles. It was probably why Theo had worked so hard to get Stiles to trust him- why he was working so hard to see some part of Stiles darker side. He was testing to see if some part of him could still be void.

Just then Theo's face transformed to confusing and the smug smile fell. Stiles noticed the odd behavior and looked over to him. "What?" he asked.

"Oh crap." Lydia said from behind Scott. He followed his gaze to see Parrish emerging from the darkness, a blank look on his face and jacket smoking.

"The scent. Like smoke- something burning." Both Theo and Stiles began looking around for the source. Scott saw an orange glow light up Theos surprised face a second before Parish punched Theo with force in the jaw. While inwardly Scott cheered, it wasn't quite as great when he saw Theos blood splatter onto Stiles' face. The amount of which left Scott having flashbacks to the Library where Stiles was almost killed by the chemist. Parish ripped open the door and dragged Theo out, throwing him like a rag doll across the parking lot. Scotts eyes followed him as he slid across the asphalt and into the side of the building, unconscious. He turned his gaze back to Stiles who seemed to be grabbing the door as if looking for the handle to escape his jeep and figure out what the hell he was up against. Before he could get the door open, Parish got to the back of the jeep began to lift it up into the air.

"Whoa!" Stiles shouted, alarm on his face as he fought for something to grab ahold of. But it all happened so fast, there wasn't time. Lydia screamed for Stiles as she backed out of the way of the flipping vehicle. When the jeep landed on its hood, there was a loud crack as glass shattered and rained down onto the ground. Lydia's eyes were searching for Stiles, and as if on command, his limp body fell through the window of the side where she and Scott were standing on. "Oh my God Stiles!" Lydia screamed. Before she could move, the ground on the other side began to light up and she heard Scott curse. She looked up to see flames lighting a path that was getting closer and closer to Stiles, who was still unconscious on the ground, smoke was hovering around his head.

"No no no- we have to get him out of there!" Lydia said, racing towards the jeep. But it was too late- fire circled the jeep, and there was no way to get near him. Even if they did would they be able to grab him and bring him out? Just as Scott was about to leap over the flames and try to grab his best friend, Theo rushed out of the shadows carrying a fire distinguisher. He made a small path for himself before rushing over to Stiles and dragging him out of the jeep. Within a few seconds Stiles was coughing up a lung on the ground.

"The body. The body's gone." Theo said.

"Everything.." Scott whispered as Theo started putting out the rest of the fire.

"What?" Lydia said, looking over at him.

"Back in the hospital- I was trying to figure out why my roar didn't work. I kept thinking that we were still in Stiles' mind just like last time- so why didn't it work? What was different? But everything's different." Stiles had moved over to the sidewalk, coughing slowing to a stop while Theo began picking up the jeep, trying to right it. "I mean it's still Stiles' head, but everything else is different. Last time we were here we saw our own memories. That was because the nogitsune was trying to keep us away from Stiles who was already distracted right? But this time there's no one possessing Stiles-no one keeping us from him. This time we've been seeing Stiles' own memories. They're keeping him trapped in here. _He's_ unknowingly keeping himself in here. Last time the nogitsune forced Stiles down and trapped him here- this time it was himself. Even the circumstances are drastically different. Theo did this to him when he rifled through his mind when he didn't know how. The void was a master at controlling people- it's what it lived on. Circumstances were different in both situations. Nogitsune verses Chimera. Different traps and different mind games- reflecting who's in control. Everything is different." Scott said- looking from Stiles to Lydia. "Which means the rules have changed."

Lydia was nodding. "Then maybe instead of trying to get Stiles away from the nogitsune- we need to get him away from himself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean- Stiles is almost two in one in here. He's both past and present versions of himself. Each memory puts him in the place of that previous Stiles- the dominant Stiles who was there and experiencing the memory. But underneath that is the real Stiles- or I guess the present Stiles. The one who's hiding from himself without even knowing it. Maybe to get him out of here we need to remind him that these memories are just that. Remind him that what he's experiencing already happened. Maybe we need to wake him up like we did at the hospital. We just need to make it stick this time."

"And how do we do that?" Scott said, kneeling next to his best friend on the ground. He tried to put his hand on his shoulder, but surprise surprise- it went right through. Scott raised his hand and waved it in front of Stiles, but he didn't even blink.

A loud crash sounded as Theo placed the jeep back on its wheels.

"We should get you to the hospital. You took in a lot of smoke." Theo was saying. Stiles shook his head.

"No I'm fine." He said, getting up and walking through Scott. Scott shivered at the disturbing feeling and stood up, watching his friend stumble to his jeep as the night seemed to get darker as waves of black rolled in.

"Well your roar _did_ work Scott- it was just temporary." Lydia was saying as she grabbed his hand. "So why don't we try it again, and just try to keep Stiles attention. Remind him of where he is in his own timeline. Remind him of what he's been through so we can get him back." Scott nodded, and they were somewhere else.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys! THanks for the reviews :) I like hearing what you think. There was one guest who's been asking for this scene for awhile but I didn't want to spoil anything so enjoy! Anyways I can see at least another 4 chapters in this fanfic, maybe 5, but it will be drawing to a close somewhat soon. Hope you guys stick with me till the end :)**

CHAPTER 22

The next memory they'd come across had been in Eichen house, when Stiles and Lydia had almost been murdered at the hands of the orderly Brunski. Scott had transformed and roared from right next to Stiles, and for a second it had worked- he'd seen them, and looked confused and relieved to see Lydia completely fine in front of him. But then Lydia's past self had started to talk to Brunski with a voice full of fear, and they'd lost him to the memory. They'd debated staying but figured the situation would just repeat itself as long as they were both in danger, so they reluctantly left Stiles and Lydia to the mercy of Brunski and let the darkness overwhelm them once more.

They'd tried again back at the clinic as Stiles and Scott tried to contain a crazed Lydia on the table. Upon arriving, past Lydia had screamed, shattering the glass all around them, while present Lydia covered her face, watching out of the corner of her eye as Stiles covered her past self with his own body. Scott had dived closer to his other self, a couple yards away from Lydia. In the quiet that had followed, Scott had taken a deep breath and roared with everything he had. It resonated throughout the room, shaking the fallen glass on the ground. Stiles had glanced in Scotts direction, followed by looking at the second Scott in surprise before shaking his head as if he was seeing double because of everything surrounding him. His gaze was then forced sharply away as he realized that the Lydia on the table was unconscious and didn't appear to be breathing. Caught up in thinking she was dead or dying, the two were lost to him again. Lydia tried to get his attention back to her, to tell him she was fine- that this had already happened. That they'd saved her; that _he'd_ saved her. But Stiles was too caught up in his own fear to see them anymore. Scott had screamed in frustration as Stiles cried out for Lydia to wake up.

Lydia had been touched as she watched him turn into a bit of a wreck over her, while simultaneously trying to ignore her state of wardrobe and lack of any sort of makeup. _Wow I really looked rough_ she thought as her past self opened her eyes. Before she could see any more, Scott was grabbing her hand and walking out the door and into the darkness waiting for them like an old friend.

The next place they'd ended up was the basement. Lydia recognized it immediately from her childhood memories, but Scott hadn't needed to be filled in once he'd seen Stiles sitting in front of a half transformed Malia. She seemed to be struggling to get a hold of herself, and it was obvious by the restraints that she still couldn't control her shift on a full moon. Lydia followed behind Scott as he walked swiftly to the other side of the room towards Stiles. Just as Scott began taking a deep breath, Malia lunged at Stiles, restraints stopping her just inches away from him. Scott jumped back in surprise, heart beating faster than he'd like to admit as he took a step back.

His eyes met Lydias and he saw her biting her lip, trying not to laugh as she looked away quickly. Stiles was sitting calmly as if used to this sort of thing by now.

"Stiles, please go." Malia begged.

"It's okay I hate parties. Social anxiety thing." Stiles said calmly. "You ever had a panic attack?"

"I'm having one now." Malia growled, trying once again to break free.

"Just breathe, okay? I'm not going to leave you."

"But what if I hurt you?" Malia asked.

"You're not going to." Stiles said with as much resolve as he could. But Lydia noticed there was an ounce of uncertainty in his words.

"But I want to. I look at your face and I want to slash at it! I want to tear at it," Malia said, seemingly fighting a losing battle against herself. "I want to feel your bones crack between my hands!"

"Jeez!" Scott shouted. He was honestly surprised Stiles hadn't gotten out of there yet. Hell, he didn't even really look all that scared. He really cared about her.

"Surprisingly enough you're not the first person to ever say something like that." Malia tried once more to grab Stiles in her claws. Instead he leaned forward just a bit. "I'm not leaving you. And I'm not going to let you hurt anyone." Stiles said with determination- fear gone. Just then Malia's eyes glowed blue as more of her coyote side emerged and she reached out to Stiles again. An ounce of fear crept into Stiles expression and he backed up, looking at her right arm restraint. The cuff was breaking, tearing down the middle.

"You're not going to have a choice." Malia said. Lydia was mentally cursing in her head at Stiles for still just standing there. Malia tugged once again and the cuff tore in half, releasing her arm. Immediately, she threw her hand up and tried again to grab Stiles, reach now further with one free arm. Stiles jumped back quickly, running just out of her grasp, just in time as her claws slashed right in front of his face. Lydia jumped and covered her mouth in fear.

"Malia- I know you can hear me just listen to my voice!" Malia turned and began yanking at the chain, trying to tear if from the wall. She turned back to Stiles as she continued to pull at the chain. "Run." She growled, and Stiles looked skeptical, as if some part of him wanted to. In classic Stiles fashion- he didn't.

"I'm not gonna run." He said, taking a step forward. "Cuz I don't think you're gonna hurt me."

"Stiles…" Scott warned

"I think maybe you're so afraid of hurting me, because of what you did to your family?"

"Stiles- be careful." Scott was saying as he transformed, partially in preparation to roar, but also some instinct to protect his best friend from the coyote part of Malia. Malia stopped tugging at the chains and turned to look at Stiles. After a second she turned her eyes away in shame.

"I know what that's like Malia. I remember everything I did- and the worst part? Is I remember liking it. Because I felt powerful."

Scott stiffened in surprise, and Lydia brought her hand away from her mouth, looking at Stiles in shock. "Did he tell you that?"

"No" Scott said gruffly. Some small part of Scott was surprised and slightly frightened of Stiles' reaction- but another bigger part of him understood. Stiles had never talked about what happened after the nogitsune had been defeated. He'd know Stiles had felt extremely guilty over the acts he had inflicted on his friends. Scott had told him it wasn't his fault many times, even if Stiles hadn't said a word about it. For some things it was just too hard for Stiles to talk about, so Scott let him deal with it on his own. Let him come to terms with the things he knew about and come to his own conclusion that it was the nogitsune- not him. He'd barely spoken for almost a week after he'd been freed. He hadn't ever asked how much of it Stiles remembered, but he assumed he'd remembered a good amount of it from what Stiles had let slip in the jeep as he, Stiles, and Issac raced to save Lydia.

With all of his friends being supernatural beings- it had to be tough at times for Stiles. He didn't have super strength or fast healing abilities. He couldn't run or leap as far. He couldn't predict things like Lydia, or wield a katana like Kira. When it came down to it, Stiles was physically the most vulnerable in the pack. He made up for it greatly with his loyalty and cleverness, along with his planning skills, but physically, he knew Stiles was at a slight disadvantage. It would make sense that as much as he'd hated what the nogitsune was doing, it had to have felt good to have some more power over a situation.

"I felt fearless, and most of all in control." Stiles said, taking another step towards Malia. If she were to turn and grab at Stiles again, he was now within her grasp. "But when I came through it- I learned something else." Stiles said, now right behind Malia. She turned around, hands still on the chain, and looked at Stiles. "Control? Is overrated." Stiles stared at her, letting the words sink in, before reaching forward to Malias last intact restraint.

"Stiles don't!" Lydia screamed, but it was too late. The cuff fell to the ground, and Malia jumped at Stiles, claws out.

"Stiles!" Scott yelled, taking a step forward, but surprisingly, Stiles was holding her arms at bay and away from him as Malia fought against herself. She stopped, taking deep breaths as she looked at the ground. Finally, she looked at her hands, which were now clawless. She looked up into Stiles' face, fear for him clearly displayed. Stiles brought up his hands up to her, and brushed her hair away from her face.

"You did it" he said with pride, and she smiled, wrapping him in her arms. Stiles let out a breath, releasing the fear he'd shoved down as him and Malia clung to each other.

Lydia let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, and tried to shove down the hurt washing over her. She wasn't even completely sure why. She supposed it was because she was realizing how many times she'd cried on Stiles shoulder, how many times she'd gone to him for advice, or just because she needed someone to talk to. But clearly, he didn't do the same to her. When Stiles was upset, he didn't complain about it unless he was pushed to, he kept it all in. But somehow, Malia was able to make him feel comfortable enough to share things that even Scott hadn't known about. Things he wouldn't tell Lydia about. And that hurt more than she thought it would. She watched as Malia held fast to Stiles, as if her life depended on it. How Stiles gripped her tight like he'd hold her as long as she needed him. And she realized she wanted to be in her place. She wanted to feel Stiles hug her and comfort her, like he'd done so many other times. She just wanted him to _see_ her.

Scott cleared his throat and looked at Lydia, who nodded. Scott inhaled, and roared, letting it take over his body as he arched forward, letting the full force of his roar echo throughout the basement. Stiles froze. He slowly released himself from Malia, still holding her, but now moving his head up and toward Scott. "Scott what are you doing? You're supposed to be watching Liam" He said.

"Stiles! Listen to me- this isn't real- this is all in your head."

Stiles stood up and looked at Scott like he was out of his mind. "Dude what are you talking about?"

Lydia stepped forward "Stiles where were you before you were here? Were you really in the living room with everyone? Or were you in the clinic after rescuing me from Eichen house?" She said cautiously.

Stiles looked confused, and glanced at Malia who was still clinging to him. He looked back at Lydia. "I… I was in the living room. We were telling Liam what he was."

"Are you sure about that?" She asked, stepping closer to him.

"I- where else would I have been? The clinic? Why would I have been there?"

"Because this is in your mind Stiles. Listen, Theo, he attacked you. Don't you remember?" Scott asked desperate.

"Who the hell is Theo?" Stiles said, but then he began shaking his head and closed his eyes, wincing. Scott picked up on it immediately.

"You do don't you? Some part of you remembers Stiles." Scott said

"No I- I've been here. With Malia."

"Yes- but this is a memory Stiles. This already happened remember?" Scott was starting to have hope. They'd never held Stiles attention this long. Stiles backed away from Malia, who looked at him in confusion. He grabbed his head and shook his head in frustration.

"No- no this didn't already what are you talking about?"

"Stiles look at me." Lydia said, "If you truly didn't believe us you wouldn't be so frustrated right now, you'd just think we were acting insane. You're fighting it, but Stiles it's killing you. You're not you anymore- you're just a shell. You're keeping yourself in here- you need to wake up!"

"No." Stiles said, looking up at Lydia, and her heart nearly stopped. His nose was bleeding. He looked like he was in pain and he shook his head again. "No this is real- this has to be real. I can't be losing my mind again."

"Stiles you're not losing your mind- you're _in_ your mind!" Lydia pleaded.

"Ah God my head hurts." He said, as blood began dripping onto the floor.

"Stiles stop fighting it! Once you accept it it'll stop hurting, just let yourself remember!"

But it was too late, the world was turning black. "No!" Scott yelled, leaping forward and grabbing onto Lydia and Stiles. Before he could do anything else, they were gone.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with me! Can't believe I have over 21,000 views already. The chapter following this is going to be a bit intense so stay tuned! Love you guys and please review!**

CHAPTER 23

As Scott swirled through the darkness, he felt the hand on Stiles start to slip, and Stiles disappeared. "No!" he yelled, and then they were there. They were back at Stiles's house. Scott looked around, recognizing it immediately as almost identical as the memory when Stiles had broken his arm. Claudia Stilinski strolled into the living room where Lydia and Scott had arrived, and began dusting the room, humming. Scott recognized it as the same song she'd hummed to Stiles when he'd broken his arm. It had a good tune, and was almost calming.

There were footsteps on the stairs and a small hand appeared on the railing. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Lydia began laughing. "Oh. My God. He looks so freaking adorable." Stiles looked about five or six, and was dressed in overalls with a red striped shirt. His hair was all over the place and he had a goofy grin on his face. He looked so young and innocent, unburdened by the worlds problems. Scott realized that the youngest Lydia had seen Stiles in here was ten when his mother was in the hospital. "He's so cute!" She turned to Scott "Should you roar when he's this young? It may scare him."

"Lydia we almost reached him in the basement with Malia- we can't stop now."

"Mom! Look I picked out my own clothes!" Stiles declared proudly as he walked towards his mom.

Lydia looked at Scott with one eyebrow up. "Okay that is adorable." He said. "And he'll kill me for saying that later" With that , Scott roared, eyes burning red and fangs extending. He was partially nervous it would scare the absolute crap out of tiny Stiles, but Stiles didn't even flinch. He didn't acknowledge Scott or Lydia at all. "Wha- what just happened" Scott asked. Lydia was looking at Stiles in dread. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but it went through as if made of mist.

Across the room, Claudia jumped in surprise and turned around to look at her son with a confused expression. "Oh hello" She said,"how did you get in here?" Stiles looked at his mother, baffled. "You know, you're not supposed to wander into other peoples houses it's not nice." Claudia said, kneeling next to her very bewildered child. "Where's your mommy?"

"What do you mean?" Stiles said. Then he laughed "Oh good one mom you got me! You can stop pretending now."

Now it was Claudias turn to look bewildered "Honey what's your name? Your parents are probably scared out of their minds."

Lydia was looking back and forth between Scott and Claudia. "You don't think..."

"I don't know. I know symptoms can start appearing years before it becomes terminal, so it's possible." Scott said, eyes tuning back to brown.

Just then, Mr. Stilinski came through the door, sporting grocery bags. "Hey you two." he said, walking to the kitchen. "Dad!" Stiles said, running to the sheriff in unease. "Dad something's wrong with mom." He said, grabbing his fathers leg before turning back around to his mother.

Claudia began laughing "What are you talking about? Honey I turned around and this boy was standing in our living room. He wont tell me where his parents are."

"Claudia... you're not serious."

"What do you mean? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Mr. Stilinski put the bags on the floor, grabbed Stiles hand, and walked over to his wife. "Claudia please tell me you know who this is." Mrs. Stilinski looked at her husband as if he was playing a trick on her before stating that no, she really didn't know the boy in front of her.

"Claudia why don't you sit down?"

"No I don't want to sit down I want to know what's going on!" She said.

"Claudia, please just sit down." Claudia huffed and sat down on the couch, arms crossed. Mr. Stilinski sat down next to her and pulled Stiles on his lap.

"Claudia- you've been having trouble remembering lately. Among other things. You've been having night terrors and sleepwalking. Honey, the doctors ran some basic tests last week do you remember?"

"I- I think so."

"We're getting a CAT scan next week but as of right now they think it may be some sort of early onset Alzheimer's... Claudia, this is our son. This is Stiles, do you remember Stiles?"

Claudia looked dumbfounded. "Babe I think I'd remember if I had a son."

Mr. Stilinski whispered in his sons ear, and little Stiles jumped up and ran over to get a picture on display above the TV. He came back and jumped back on his dads lap before nervously handing the picture to his mother. In it was a picture of the three of them. In it Stiles looked about four, but it was clearly the same child, and Claudia was beaming at her son in the picture.

"That was the day at the park. You wanted to go with your friend Anna and her daughter Heather. She took the picture that day right after you got back with the kids on the swings. You were laughing so hard as if you, Stiles and Heather had some sort of secret. Turns out they'd fought about who could go higher on the swings and you'd bribed them with ice cream to get along. They acted like best friends after that" Mr. Stilinski said, laughing. Tears sprung to Claudias eyes and she looked from her husband to her son.

"Oh my God, baby how could I forget you?" Claudia said, putting her arms out. Stiles fear instantly vanished and he jumped into his mothers waiting arms. Claudia had tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry baby." She said, holding him tight. "I'm so so sorry. How could I forget my baby boy?" Stiles looked up at his mom.

"It's okay mom. Dad said you're sick, but you'll get better and then we can go get icecream again. Ice cream is good when you're sick right dad?" Stiles said, looking over at the sherriff. Mr. Stilinski laughed, trying to hide his fear "That only for sore throats Stiles."

"Oh... what helps fix this?" Stiles asked. His parents exchanged a look and Mr. Stilinski grabbed his wifes hand. Claudia looked back to her son. "Hmmm lets see. I think it was hugs. Yup! Hugs are a surefire way to make me feel alllll better" She said with a smile. Stiles smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck and nestling his head in her hair. She smiled and rubbed Stiles' back, but her eyes were on her husband. They were sharing a worried look between them as she mouthed 'it's getting worse isn't it?' He looked away, and she closed her eyes. "I love you Stiles." She whispered. Stiles backed up and looked at his mother. "I love you too mommy."

"Mommy? You haven't said that in awhile. I thought you said Heather told you it wasn't cool anymore?"

"Yeah but Heather's not the boss of me. And you like it, so I save it for days like mothers day or sad days like today."

"Oh well how sweet of you."

"I know!" Stiles said, beaming.

"I don't understand." Scott said. "It's worked before, why isn't it now? Do you think it's because we almost got through to him last time?"

"How would the two events correlate?"

"Well Stiles is almost hiding in his own subconscious right? Well we almost broke through to him last time. We almost made him remember. Maybe we freaked him out. Maybe he made himself come here because this was before we even really knew each other. Before I was turned. Which would mean he wouldn't know my alpha's roar because he's not apart of the pack at this point. He wouldn't recognize it."

"That might actually make sense. He may not hear you because he doesn't know to. Which means we have to find a way to get his attention without him hearing us. Maybe physically get his attention? Try to grab his hand or something?"

"But without getting through to him we can't touch him. It goes right through."

"Right. Should we go to another memory?If he's deepened himself into his mind we can't reach him unless he's older right?"

"Not necessarily. Think of it like Mason when he was the beast. He turned into Sebastian, but he was still in there somewhere right? So Stiles is still in this six year old body, we just have to reach him.

"Oh my God Scott that's genius!"

"I mean that's pretty much what we've been saying for awhile now."

"No not that- Mason!"

"Um- what about him?"

"How did we get through to Mason?" Lydia said, looking at Scott expectantly.

Scotts eyes widened. "You screamed."

"Exactly. I screamed. And a banshee's scream when directed at something is an extremely potent force"

Scott smiled. "Well then, try it. Lydia- scream.

And so she did. Lydia took in a breath, thought about everything Merideth taught her, and let it out in a high pitched wail, calling out for the boy they'd been though all of this to find. The person who'd always been there for them. The guy who would go through hell and back for them. The person she wanted to be alright more than she'd wanted anything in the world. _**"STILES!"**_ Lydia screamed. A wave of pure force washed over the happy family before them, and little Stiles was pushed back against his parents to the back of the couch by the force. Stiles looked at the duo in his living room before crawling off of his mothers lap and walking over. Behind him, a vague outline of six- year old Stiles was still sitting on his mothers lap.

"Who are you?" Stiles said, face scrunched up with puzzlement as he came to a stop in front of his two best friends. "Wait. I know you right? Or I think I do." He put his finger in front of his lips before Scott could speak up. Lydia's relief was washed away as she fought the urge to laugh at short, overall clad toddler Stiles shushing his 18 year old best friend. Along with the fact that Scott obeyed, clamping his mouth shut.

"Stiles." Lydia said, kneeling down. "Come on. You know us. Let yourself remember. Please."

"What if I don't want to remember Lydia?" He asked. His eyes widened and suddenly Stiles started growing. He looked six, then eight, then thirteen, then sixteen, and finally, eighteen. His overalls were replaced with a classic plaid shirt and jeans. He looked like Stiles again. "Lydia?" he asked. Before she could say anything, Scott rushed forward and collided with Stiles, hugging him tightly.

Stiles laughed "Scott? You okay?"

"Yeah" Scott said, backing off and beaming at Stiles with the slightest hint of moisture in his eyes. "What's all this about? Wait- what are you doing here? What happened now?" Stiles said in horror. He looked back into the living room and saw his parents on the couch. His eyes widened in disbelief and he whipped his head back to his friends. "Am I dreaming?" he asked.

"No Stiles- you're not dreaming. Listen to me okay? Something happened- do you remember Malia getting control of her shift in the basement?"

"Yeah I was just thinking about that actually. It must have been a dream though because the two of you were there."

"No Stiles it wasn't a dream. We were really there. We were trying to get you to remember."

"Remember what? Where are we?" he said, staring at his mother.

"Stiles do you remember Theo?" Lydia asked.

"Theo... Theo! Scott I don't trust that guy..."

"Trust me, we don't either anymore. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Uh, I was in the library with Malia. We were reading the bestiary. I'm pretty sure I passed out.

"Stiles that was months ago." Scott said gently. Stiles turned around and looked at Scott.

"Wait what? That doesn't make sense." Stiles said in bewilderment.

"It does actually." Lydia said, and both Stiles and Scott looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Well that had to have been the night Donovan... died, right? That's when everything started going to hell."

"Donovans' dead? What happened?"

"Stiles... you know what happened. You're repressing it for some reason. But you need to remember." Scott said.

"Why is my mom here? This... this already happened. This is a memory isn't it?" Scott and Lydia nodded simultaneously. "But how are you two here? Hell, how am _I_ here?"

"Stiles something happened. To you." Lydia said carefully, remembering how Stiles reacted last time they'd tried to tell him. But then again they had his full attention now- he seemed more aware then any other time Scott had roared. "Stiles you were attacked. By Theo."

Stiles looked at her with doubt in his eyes. "What? This is the weirdest dream I've ever had."

Scott ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Stiles! This isn't a dream okay? Theo kidnapped you. He attacked you and you've been comatose ever since. Stiles we're in your mind right now."

Stiles' eyes unfocused and he began staring at nothing. "Stiles?" Lydia asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. Stiles blinked and looked at her. "I remember. I remember-" he winced "Donovan, and rescuing you from Eichen, getting Mason back, defeating Theo and him grabbing me. I remember everything." he said, wincing. "But I don't remember him attacking me."

"Stiles we need to get you out of here." Scott said. "You have to come back. I need you bro." he said, smiling nervously. Stiles looked back at his parents and turned back to his friends. "Okay. But I need to do something first." Lydia and Scott exchanged a nervous glance but nodded. Stiles went back into the living room.

"Mom?" he said cautiously. Claudia Stilinski looked up at her son standing above her.

"Stiles when did you get off the couch? I didn't even notice." she said laughing. "Those overalls look so cute. You did such a good job picking them out." Stiles looked down at his plaid shirt, realizing that Claudia was apart of his old memory. He could talk to her, but she would forever see him as the six year old Stiles that this memory focused on. "Mom I- I just wanted to say that I love you. And I miss you. So much." His breath caught, and his eyes filled up.

"Oh sweetie! I'm right here it's okay." Claudia said, wrapping Stiles in her arms. Stiles froze, and then hugged her back tightly, looking like he didn't want to let go. "Stiles it's okay. Mommy's going to go to the doctors on Tuesday and he'll fix me and I'll be fine, alright? I'm not going anywhere you hear me? I'll always be here for you." On the couch, Mr. Stilinski looked away, pain on his face at his wife blatantly lied to their son to reassure him. Stiles nodded, knowing she was lying to make him feel better, but loving her for it all the same. Claudia whispered something in Stiles' ear as she hugged him. He squeezed her tight one last time and let go. Tears were streaming down his face.

Lydia looked away, eyes filling up, and Scott grabbed her hand, trying to comfort both of them.

"Bye mom." Stiles whispered, and watched his mother fade back into the memory, settling back onto the couch with Stiles' dad and the vague outline of six year old Stiles from the real memory. Stiles turned to walk back to Scott and Lydia, wiping his face embarrassingly. "Okay how do we get out of here?"

"I don't know, last time it just happened." Scott said, not looking at Stiles.

"Maybe it would help if I remembered exactly what happened. What did Theo do to me?"

"The same thing he did to me." Lydia said. "He used his claws to enter your mind and went looking in your memories."

"But he's not an alpha, so somehow it made you descend into your mind with him, trapping you in here." Scott finished. Suddenly the Stilinski house swirled and a wave of darkness overwhelmed them faster than it ever had before. Scott closed his eyes and grabbed Stiles hand at the last second. This time, Stiles didn't disappear. When the tidal wave of shadows receded, Scott opened his eyes to find all three of them back at the clinic. And a second Stiles was being thrown to the ground by Theo.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey guys! Hope you like the new chapter. To those who reviewed DrewSb- Thank you! That means so, so much! Queenie130 Thanks glad you liked it :) Guest- he turns back within the same chapter if you missed it so regular aged Stiles is back by now :) Shadow-wolf78- hope you like the update! and finally RTP1995- Yes you were the only one who guessed that! (to me at least). I'd been planning the scream thing for awhile so I was glad you predicted it :) Good job! This chapter is a little bit shorter than they've been for awhile but I hope you guys still like it. Enjoy and please review!**

CHAPTER 24

Stiles was staring wide-eyed at his second self, before turning back to Scott with a wide grin, pointing between himself and his double. "This is pretty cool, not gonna lie" he said.

"Right?" Scott said, clapping Stiles on the back. Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah you're definitely best friends."

"Everything you tried to do, it was all for nothing Theo." The other Stiles was saying." Scott's still alive, Lydia is stronger than before you crippled her, and despite how hard you tried to break us apart, the pack is reunited and stronger than ever. Your Chimeras are gone. There's not even a point in taking me. The nogitsune is gone, I'm useless to you. Scott can find me by my scent, and you better believe they'll be coming for me."

"Hell yeah." Lydia muttered. Scott smirked from in front of her and she flushed. No one was supposed to hear that.

Stiles clutched his head and gasped in pain. Scott and Lydia automatically turned to him in concern. "Stiles?" Scott asked, hand on his shoulder.

"Stiles what's wrong?"

"I don't know. My head hurts. My head is _killing_ me. How long have you guys been in here?"

Scott and Lydia exchanged a nervous look. "We don't know" Lydia admitted, "But definitely longer than last time. We've seen a lot."

Stiles looked up, fingers massaging his temples. Blood was dripping from his nose and onto his upper lip. Scotts eyes widened and he remembered the same thing happening to him when the nogitsune was trying to trap him here. It was a clear indication that something was wrong. Stiles was wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Stiles?" Scott asked nervously.

"I'm fine." Stiles said.

"You always say that." Lydia said, looking at him with one eyebrow arched. Stiles ignored her comment.

"Okay so how many times has this happened to me?" Stiles asked in curiously, pointing to his nose.

"It hasn't"

"Yes it has Scott. Back in the basement with Malia." Scott looked over at Lydia in surprise. Lydia nodded in response to his unasked question. "But that was when you we're fighting us and this reality. Unless…"

"Unless?" Stiles asked nervously "Unless what Lydia, you can't just end a sentence like that!"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Unless it wasn't because you were fighting it, but rather it was us. Or maybe even a mixture of the two."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, shoulders tensing up.

"Think about it Scott- last time we were here we weren't nearly this long. Derek showed you how to see a person's memories quickly, and then get out. You even said it yourself- we've been in here too long. I think it may be affecting Stiles. He wasn't exactly stable when we entered his mind."

Scott glanced at Stiles in worry. He was wiping his nose furiously- but this time it wouldn't stop. Blood was dripping onto the floor in front of him. Two drops fell onto his white shoes, and Stiles gasped. "Not these! I love theses shoes..." Lydia fought the urge to remind him where they were.

"How do we get him out of here?" Scott said, looking back at Lydia.

"What if we just leave?" She asked. "We found Stiles and broke him free of the memories. He's out. If we leave, he should come back to himself right?"

"I don't know. We're in another memory right now- so is it really over?"

"But I think Stiles brought us to this memory on purpose."

"I did? I mean, sure. Of course I did." Stiles squeaked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I guess I was trying to remember this memory- it's the only thing I _didn't_ remember."

Stiles turned back to watch the flashback unfold. "Even if I had access to it and a translator, I would never tell you anything." He watched himself say. Without warning, Stiles began remembering what happened- but it was foggy, as if from a dream- but it was slowly clearing. His eyes were glued to the scene in front of him as if in a trance. His hand dropped to his side and he began remembering everything a split second before it happened around him.

"Who says I need you to talk? No, even if you did you could be lying. I'd rather see them for myself, and you happened to be the easiest one to take who has that information."

"Stiles?" Lydia asked, putting her hand on her shoulder. His eyes were glazed over and he seemed as if in a daze. "Stiles?!" She asked again, waving her hand in front of his eyes. He barely flinched. His nose began bleeding more and more. Blood was dripping down his chin, covering his mouth and creating a small pool on the floor.

"Wait... no." The second Stiles said. "You can't, you're not an Alpha you could kill me, you could kill us both-"

" _I_ was fine last time I tried. I may not do it completely right, but I still came out fine." Theo taunted. "As for you, sorry Stiles, I'm not sure what will happen, especially since you're human. It's been fun, and I really am sorry about this."

"Scott, what's happening?" Lydia said, panic beginning to take hold. Scott eyes were wide and he looked flustered, wanting to help but not knowing how. Across the room, Theo grabbed Stiles as he tried to run out the door. In front of them, Stiles collapsed onto the ground.

"Stiles!" Lydia screamed, and Scott lurched forward to grab him a second before he hit the ground. Stiles was clutching his head as blood poured out of his nose. "Oh my God, Stiles can you hear me?"

"Of course you're right next to me." He winced. "Am I on the floor? When did I get on the floor? Ah!" He yelled, before hissing in pain.

"What's happening?" She asked.

"I don't know- my head feels like it's exploding!" Stiles whimpered and Scotts heart lurched. Lydia glanced behind them to see Theo's extended claws pierce Stiles' skin. The Stiles in Theo's grip went slack, and Lydia winced. But there was no time to think of anything else, because the second Theo had pierced Stiles' neck, the real Stiles screamed, closing his eyes in pain. And everything went blissfully white.

...

Lydia gasped and opened her eyes, hand automatically going to the back of her neck, where a small amount of blood was escaping from Scotts puncture marks. She looked up into the faces of everyone around them. Mr. Stilinski was right in front of his son, holding Stiles' shoulders. Mrs. McCall appeared to checking his heart rate. Malia was slightly to Lydia's right, eyes were nervously cast on Stiles next to her.

Scott blinked at the normal light of day to find Kira right in front of him, hand on his forearm in concern. Scott smiled and nodded quickly to let her know he was alright before running around the couch to check on Stiles. Malia got out of the way to let him through.

"Stiles?" Scott asked. Before he could ask if he was alright, Scott saw his face. From besides him, Lydia gasped. Stiles eyes were staring, unfocused, eyes downcast, still in a trance. His nose was bleeding profusely, staining a good portion of his plain blue shirt and hospital pants. Mr. Stilinski was shaking his shoulders while calling out his name. He turned to Scott "What happened in there?!" He shouted. Scott flinched.

Abruptly, Stiles blinked and his head shot up, looking around in fear. "Dad?" He asked shakily. The sheriff turned back to his son, eyes wide. He smiled, lurching forward to hug his son. "Stiles! About time kid." Mr. Stilinski said, closing his eyes as he clung to Stiles. Out of nowhere, the sheriff froze, opening his eyes. "Stiles?" he asked, backing away. In front of him, Stiles was shaking, eyes rolling back into his head.

"Oh my God." Malia said.

"Move, move!" Melissa yelled. "You and you, lower him to the ground carefully and turn him on his side!" Scott and Liam did as they were instructed before Melissa shooed them back to give Stiles space.

"Melissa what's happening to him?" Mr. Stilinski shouted in panic.

"Mom?" Scott asked in alarm.

"He's having a seizure." Melissa responded quickly. The sheriff immediately called for an ambulance, eyes glued to his son. Scott was running his hands through his hair in distress while everyone else gathered around, either staring in shock and horror or asking profusely what they could do to help.

Without warning, Stiles' body stopped convulsing, and he lay on the ground, unmoving. Immediately Melissa put her fingers to his neck for a pulse as everyone held their breath.

"No no no no, come on Stiles." She said, beginning CPR. Scott tuned into his hearing, listening to the heartbeats of those around him. Other than his, there should have been seven heartbeats in the room. Scotts head immediately sought out Liam and Malia, who were both listening for the same thing. The horror in their faces confirmed what he already knew. There were only six.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey guys! Hope you guys weren't too upset- I didn't want to have Stiles come out of it just automatically completely fine like they so often do in the show. Personally I like seeing the aftermath of the situations. So as you could probably tell, this story is coming to a close. There will only be one more chapter in this story posted on either Monday or Tuesday (I'm going away for the weekend so I wont have time to finish and edit it until Sunday night/Monday.) But hopefully Monday morning you'll all get to see how I end this fiction. Thanks for sticking with me and enjoy the new chapter! Please review :)**

CHAPTER 25

"…three, four, five, six, come on Stiles." Melissa said, pumping his chest in rhythm to how his heart should be beating. Behind the commotion, Liam was pacing. Kira had her hand over her mouth as she watched the scene in front of her unfold while Malia stood frozen above Melissa, staring at Stiles as she kept her hearing tuned on his heart. Lydia was cradling Stiles' head, staring down at his bloody face as tears streamed down her own. _Nononononono come on Stiles wake up wake up wake up,_ she kept repeating in her head. She couldn't lose him. She couldn't lose someone else so close to her. Another best friend. She couldn't stand it if she lost someone who meant so much to her. Not after Allison.

Scott was kneeling besides her, eyes only for his best friend. The longer his mother tried to get Stiles' heart to beat, the more despair crept into Scott's heart. He felt like he was dying. He didn't know this kind of pain was possible. It felt like he the world was collapsing around him. He couldn't think, he couldn't breathe; he could only stare helplessly as his mother tried her hardest to bring back his brother. A part of him wanted to comfort his friends around him, but at that moment, he couldn't bring himself to help them- his eyes were glued to Stiles and he couldn't look away.

Sherriff Stilinski's eyes were wet, and he seemed to be barely in control of himself. He was shaking as he stared at his only child. His son. His only family. When Melissa's continuous CPR got no response, he started screaming at his son. "Don't you dare do this to me Stiles. You hear me? Don't you dare give up!" His tears began to spill over and he placed his head next to Stiles', closing his eyes as he whispered "Please come back."

Melissa would not give up. She continued CPR past a time where a doctor would have called it. Because this wasn't just a regular patient. This was Stiles Stilinski. The son of the Sheriff, the best friend of her kid, and a second son to her. "Come on Stiles. _Come on Stiles!_ "

Finally, after four of the longest minutes any of them had ever witnessed, Stiles inhaled on his own. Scott was so tuned into the absence of the sound that it was like a drum being slammed next to his ear as his best friends heart began to beat. But he welcomed it like the best gift he'd ever gotten. Relief swept through him like a wave, adrenaline finally slowing down.

Suddenly, everything that he'd been through came rushing back. The guilt about not knowing all the times Stiles had been in trouble, the times he'd taken Stiles for granted, all the times he'd almost died, feeling like he'd failed his brother- only to break him out of his mind and watch him die all over again. Before he knew what was happening, Scott was sobbing. He didn't care that he was an alpha, that he was supposed to be the strong one, that the room was full of people. He didn't care about anything except for the heartbeat he could now hear as clear as day. Malia kneeled down as Lydia leaned forward as they put their arms around Scott, each of them leaning on the others in support of the traumatic events of the day. Scott looked up to see the Sheriff hugging his mother tightly in a gesture of thanks, before returning to his sons side.

Outside, sirens became louder and louder as an ambulance pulled up in front of the house. A stretcher was wheeled inside and the two men began immediately asking questions. Melissa stood up, explained who and what she was, along with a brief (and slightly altered) truth about what had just transpired. The pack cleared a path to let the men through and watched anxiously as they loaded the unconscious Stiles onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. Mr. Stilinski got in the back with his son as they closed the doors, turned on the siren, and rushed to the hospital. Immediately, everyone gathered their things and headed to the cars. Melissa piled into the driver side of her car and waited as Scott, Kira, and Liam got in and buckled before she took off behind the ambulance. Malia and Lydia followed behind them from Lydias car. Kira grasped Scotts hand the whole way, as _he's okay he's okay he's okay_ echoed through his head.

…..

For the first time in what felt like forever, Stiles was dreaming. No traumatic memories plagued his mind as his brain thought up the most random images possible. When his dreams shifted, it was only for the better. His mind allowed him to go back to the day he and Scott had paired up for a science project in fifth grade. They completely destroyed Scotts kitchen, and Melissa was _not_ happy. But both of them were laughing so hard at something stupid that she couldn't yell at them with a straight face. His dream changed again and he was being pushed on the swings by his mother. Heather was next to him as she was pushed by her own mother, but as she went out of Stiles's line if sight, she disappeared and Scott took her place, being pushed by Melissa. All four of them were smiling brightly, and Stiles was elated. He could see his father laughing from the side of the swing set and all Stiles could think of is that this was where he belonged. He was with his family. His dad, his two moms, and his brother. Stiles felt the dream fading as a beeping sound became more prominent and he allowed himself to stay for another few precious seconds before everything went white, and he blinked groggily.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing Stiles saw was a bright light above his head, and he shut his eyes tightly before blinking rapidly as his adjusted to the light. His nose and mouth felt dry, and he realized he had an oxygen tube under his nose. He looked down and found himself in a hospital bed, wires attached to his finger and snaking under his hospital gown to his chest. He had a pounding headache but other than that, he didn't really know why he was here. He felt fine- had something happened after he woke up? The beeping he'd heard in his dream was slightly louder now, and he looked to his right to see a heart monitor recording his heartbeat. He looked around the room as he rubbed his temple.

Every chair was occupied by sleeping friends and family. Lydia and Malia had fallen asleep on each other's shoulders in a two person hospital couch at the end of his bed, while Liam was just straight out sprawled on the window sill counter next to the furnace. Kira was in a chair between them with her mouth open as her head hung back on the chair. Melissa was right outside the room holding a chart as she chatted with another nurse. Stiles looked down to see his father asleep in a chair, head resting in his hands on Stiles' hospital bed, and Scott on the other side of his bed, awake and glancing at his mom in the hallway. He was clearly eavesdropping, and Stiles rolled his eyes as he reached up to take the breathing tube away from his nose.

"You know it's actually rude to eavesdrop." Scott twisted around with wide eyes "Or at least that's what the sheriff over there has told me on multiple occasions." Stiles said, smirking.

"Stiles." Scott said, flat out staring at him.

"Uh yeah… that's me." Stiles said, giving Scott a weird look. "You okay Scottie?"

Scott didn't answer, just stood up and lunged forward, throwing his arms around his best friend and squeezing tightly. Stiles froze in surprise for a second before hugging him back just as tight. "That bad huh?" He asked, only half-jokingly. Scott just hugged him tighter in response. He hadn't realized how good it would be just to see Stiles alive, awake, and talking like his old self. "Okay uh, Scott? I can't breathe dude." Immediately Scott let go and backed away in alarm.

"Oh my God I'm sorry, do you need me to get a nurse? I'll get a nurse." He said, standing up.

"What? Why? No no- Scott I'm fine, relax." He laughed. Scott slowly lowered himself back into the chair, looking at Stiles in suspicion.

"You're not fine Stiles. You died today. And it was my fault."

"Dude what are you talking about?" Stiles asked. He remembered what happened with Theo, seeing Scott and Lydia in his mind, waking up to see his father in front of him. The only thing he remembered after that was his dreams. What he didn't get was how it was supposedly Scotts fault.

"It was me and Lydia. We stayed too long inside your mind. My mom told me we were in there for over two hours. It's supposed to only take a matter of minutes. Stiles, I'm so sorry." Scotts eyes were welling up and it was freaking Stiles out a little bit. He'd rarely seen Scott this guilt ridden and upset.

"Whoa whoa- Scott it's not your fault, I'm the one who trapped myself there in the first place, and that only happened because of Theo okay? You were just trying to save me from my own stupid head. And I'm completely fine see? I'm awake, head feels fantastic, totally okay. Wait a second did you say I _died_?" Scott smirked at the look on his face and nodded. "What the hell. Again? At least no supernatural beacons were lit up this time. Wait" His eyes widened "No supernatural beacons were lit up this time right?"

Scott laughed quietly, trying to try and keep quiet for all of those sleeping in the room. "No, no supernatural beacons."

"Oh thank God. We already have enough crap to deal with." He said, leaning back onto his pillows. The noise of the boys laughing woke up the Sheriff, who immediately embraced his son with shaky hands for a solid minute, not saying anything. Stiles hugged him back tightly.

"It's ok dad. You've still got me." He said, and the sheriff backed up and smiled at his son.

"I better, because if you _ever_ do something like that again I'll kill you myself."

"Dad that doesn't actually make sense given the circumstances." Stiles said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't be a smart-ass." Stiles snorted and his dad clapped him on the back. Mr. Stilinski went to get Melissa and let her know Stiles was up.

"My mom managed to let us all stay here after visiting hours were over. I guess having connections helps." He smirked.

"So what exactly happened? I remember the Theo attacking me, and before I knew it I was standing with you and Lydia in my house, then back at the clinic watching myself get attacked by Theo, and then I remember waking up. But that's it." Stiles looked at his best friend expectantly. If he supposedly died, you better believe he wanted to know how.

"You collapsed. Your nose was bleeding because of all the time we spent in your mind and I don't know, it effected something. You had a seizure and then-" Stiles eyebrows had gone higher and higher, and he was gesturing for Scott to go on.

"And theeeeen?" He asked annoyingly.

"And then your heart stopped beating."

"Huh. Hardcore. I guess I miss all the good stuff. So how am I alive?"

"My mom gave you CPR for like, four or five minutes until you started breathing again, and your heart started beating. Then the paramedics got there and you were taken here. We've all been here ever since. You were out for like six hours."

"Wait your mom gave me CPR?"

"That's what you got out of all that? Dude you were dead. You weren't breathing. Your heart stopped. But yes- she gave you CPR."

Stiles looked slightly disturbed. Melissa was like a second mom to him, even if it was to save his life, he couldn't help but feel violated that her mouth had been on his. He shivered uncomfortably. Talk about awkward.

"Dude you really freaked us all out. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks. So am I." Scott smirked as his mom came into the room. Stiles immediately cleared his throat and looked in the direction of the girls as if just casually looking around the room.

"Hey Stiles. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Stiles. You had a bit of a big day today, and I'm your nurse. I need to know what is actually going on."

Stiles nodded and looked up. "Well my nose is dry, I have a bit of a headache- but nothing serious." He added as Scott looked at him in worry. "And otherwise I'm just kinda thirsty." He finished. Melissa wrote it down and checked his vitals before getting him some ginger ale.

"Oh and put your oxygen back on- don't think I didn't notice. That's an order" She said. Stiles sighed and slowly put the tube back under his nose while Scott snickered next to him. With her walking around the room, the others began waking up one by one. There was a lot of "Are you okay's" and "How are you feeling" questions as they gathered around his bed.

Malia said an awkward "I'm glad you're okay." And a quick squeeze of his hand before she headed home, and Lydia stood there smiling at him, holding his other hand. He smiled back at her, unable to know that the one smile almost made Lydia burst into tears like some sad damsel in distress. She hated it- but she also knew how long she'd been waiting to see that smile. How long it felt since she'd seen him actually make eye contact with her. He didn't look through her, or have a blank unknowing expression. He was here- and he saw her. She hadn't known quite how much it had affected her until he had. She took a step back and stepped into the hallway. She would _not_ cry again. She only returned when she had gotten herself back under control.

Soon, people started filing out, heading home to sleep and promising they'd be back the next day. When it was only Scott and his dad left, Stiles eyes began to droop, and he was soon asleep.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey guys! Sorry this is late today, I overslept this morning and had to rush to work before I could post. Okay last chapter... Hope you enjoy how I ended it, let me know what you think :) Thanks to DrewSb and Shadow-Wolf78 for commenting so often- it means so much, and thanks to every reader who took the time to read this whole thing, as well as all the people who took even more time to write to me what you thought. It means a lot to get feedback, negative or positive :) RTP1995- Thanks for changing your view I'm glad you liked how I portrayed him. I was actually thinking of doing another story in 3b but would have to wait until I get a good idea for it. Maybe in a few weeks/ a month or so. Keep a look out :) Anyways, hope you all enjoy!**

CHAPTER 26

A few days later, Stiles was released from the hospital. Stiles had begged to be released the next morning after he woke up, claiming that not only was he bored, but also felt bad that he was racking up 'unnecessary' bills. To which of course his father essentially told him to shut up and stop thinking about that. After all, Stiles had come into the hospital and had been comatose for 12 days, followed immediately by a heavy nose bleed, a seizure, and cardiac arrest- essentially dying for over four minutes. There was absolutely no way the hospital was releasing him after one night, and no way his father was in any hurry to get his son out of the hospital before making sure he was in absolute top shape.

When he was finally let out, it was on the condition that he were to stay home and take it easy for another week, resting up as he caught up on school work and make sure his heart was left to recuperate. During that week, the whole pack continuously visited him, especially Scott, who practically moved in. The first night he was home, Scott had come over to check on him, and they'd caught up on everything he'd missed out on. They'd both fallen asleep talking, and the sheriff had burst into the room the next morning with Scotts mother, who scolded him on not letting her know he wasn't coming home the night before. Stiles was snickering as he was scolded, which lead to a small scolding of his own.

Lydia had visited him a couple times, but they were all brief, and she'd always seemed uncomfortable. He had a feeling it revolved around what she'd been a witness to in his mind. Malia hadn't visited him in the hospital anymore after the first night, but on the second night he was home, she snuck into his room through the window. Scott was passed out on the desk chair again, and Malia had crawled onto Stiles' bed and sat next to him, legged crossed as she watched him sleep. As if he could feel the eyes on him, Stiles had woken about ten minutes later. He looked behind him to see a shadowy figure above him and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Holy-! Malia you almost gave me a heart attack!" He whispered loudly, trying not to wake Scott, who was now lightly snoring on the other side of the room.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered quickly with worry, putting her hands up as if to check Stiles' heart. "Are you alright? Should I get your dad?"

"No I'm fine, it was metaphorical. I hope." He said, breathing hard as his heart slowed down.

"That's not funny Stiles."

"Neither is being woken up at-" He checked the clock, "just past two in the morning. Malia what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up I was just checking in on you. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"You know you could have just come during the day." Stiles said, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Malia looked away.

"I wasn't sure you'd want to see me. We never did really resolve things after the break up but- after what happened… I was worried about you." Stiles let out a breath. She was right- with everything that was going on at the time, they'd both just brushed what had happened under the rug. Once everything was solved, they hadn't really spoken about anything. They didn't really know the rules. He understood why she came at night. That had always been their thing. She'd sneak into his room, and they'd spend the night together. _Old habits die hard_ , he thought. He was glad she was there though. He hadn't seen her since the night he'd woken up in the hospital and had been starting to worry she was angry at him. Even if they weren't together, he still wanted her to be a part of his life. After all, they'd been through a lot together. He put his hand on her back.

"Malia I- I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't want you here. You're still a part of my life and I'll always care about you." Malia looked up to meet his eyes and nodded before leaning forward and letting him hold her and rub her arm in comfort.

"I thought I was going to lose you."

"Nahhhh I'm fine. I've survived worse." Malia laughed softly. Suddenly, Stiles thought of something.

"Malia? When I woke up, you didn't seem to have any intention of waking me up."

"Yeah, I was checking up on you, I didn't want to wake you up." She said, sitting back up and looking at Stiles.

"Malia… how often have you been doing this?"

"Every night since the hospital." Stiles eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Malia you didn't have to do that- I'm fine."

"Yeah, _now_ " she said, frustrated. "But Stiles, I watched you _die_. I heard your heart stop. What if your heart is weakened now? What if it stops in the middle of the night and no one is awake to hear it?" She asked, voice rising as she went on.

"Shhh! Scott's sleeping." They glanced over at the other boy in the room just in time for Scott to snort in his sleep and turn over in his chair.

"Ops." Malia whispered.

"Malia, the doctor said my heart was normal. He's only having me on bed rest as an extra precaution, but I'm not going to just drop dead okay? You can't just sneak into my room and watch me sleep."

"Why not? I used to do it all the time." she asked, confused.

Stiles looked at her like she was insane. "Because it's creepy, Malia."

Malia raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging and staring at him as she bit her lip, unsure. He knew her enough to know that expression by heart. She'd stop checking in on him for the most part, but would still occasionally stop by and check in on him until she herself, felt that he was okay. Stiles sighed and Malia got up, walking to the window and opening it. "Malia stop. It's late and you live across town. I'll take the floor- you should sleep here tonight."

"No Stiles, you're hurt- you take the bed."

"Malia this is ridiculous I'm fine I'll take the flo-"

"Stiles. I'm not letting you sleep on the floor." She gave him a hard glare, eyes glowing the softest shade of blue. Stiles swallowed and complied. "Besides, I can take care of myself, I can just go home."

"You walked here didn't you." It wasn't a question. Malia gave Stiles a defiant look and Stiles rolled his eyes as he nodded. "You're not going back out there in this whack job town alone at this time of night. I'll get you a pillow and some blankets." He said, walking out of the room. Malia stayed up another hour on the floor while Stiles fell back asleep, listening to his heart. But with her lack of sleep from spying on Stiles every night, she soon fell asleep. Though Scott had a good amount of questions in the morning, Stiles and Malia were once again on good terms. Malia promised to stop sneaking in his room at night, and instead the two hung out a couple times in his room over the next few days, getting reacquainted as they built their relationship from dating status to simply friends.

Stiles noticed that Scott avoided talking about what had happened in his mind. Neither one was exactly sure of how much the other had seen or remembered, and both of them seemed reluctant to bring it up first. It became an unspoken rule, but it also lead to a sort of tension between the two, and there was only so long it could hold out before it came to a head. As much as he tried to bury it, every time his dad left to work and his friends to school, his mind went back to what he'd seen. It was one thing to live through those memories one by one, with time between them to process what had happened. It was another to live through all of them for a second time like a loop in his head, one thing occurring right after another.

If he was being honest, he wasn't okay- not in the slightest. He hadn't really let himself think on how much more crap he'd had to deal with the last couple of years. How many times he'd almost died. Hell, some of them he hadn't even known he'd remembered. He'd repressed the memory of his mother attacking him, and he'd barely remembered the night his mother died. Emotional trauma or something like that. There were others that now haunted him- the first panic attack he'd gotten after his mother died where his dad had called the paramedics in panic. The time when he was three that his parents sat him down with tears in their eyes and told him that his baby sister he'd been so excited for had passed away in his mother's belly. The mother's day a few months after his mom died where he'd had a meltdown at recess and stormed inside the school and had started throwing anything he could get his hands on until his teacher had caught him and calmed him down. The day not so long ago that he thought he was going to lose his father when the chimera attacked him. The night he thought he was about to lose his best friend to suicide in the parking lot of a creepy hotel. The list went on and on, and the worst part was that he had no idea how much of them Lydia and Scott had seen. He'd been so wrapped up in the memories plaguing him he had no idea when they'd joined him. He remembered seeing them for a split second here or there, but they'd disappeared to his eyes so quickly it was like they hadn't been there at all.

It was for this reason he was so grateful for Scott not wanting to leave most nights, he didn't have time to think. But by the end of his week at home, Stiles couldn't stand the quiet of the house that left his mind to wander to places he didn't want to go. He had to get out. So Stiles got dressed, and started walking. He knew it would be easier to drive his jeep, but the memory of crashing it, or being inside as it was flipped, and of Donovans attack kept running through his mind like fresh wounds, and he couldn't bring himself to drive it right then. And so he walked. He tried to think or something other than what he'd relived. He counted the trees he past, read every street sign, road sign, and house number he passed. And when his mind started to wander back, he stared at the ground and watched his feet move. Right, left, right, left- he began counting his footsteps and could eventually look back at the town surrounding him as he passed a bridge over running water. He took in the sights of his small town, and let himself breathe, just trying to enjoy the day out, and see all the beauty his home town held.

Something he hadn't done since his mother had died.

Claudia Stilinski used to always remind her son that everything was important. "Everything has a purpose Stiles." She'd say as they had 'adventures' in the woods behind their house. "The sun helps the earth, the bugs sustained life, the trees gave us oxygen, and the people help us grow." She'd always say. Stiles remembered this as he walked, and smiled. She'd always wanted him to see the beauty in the world, but taking those adventures and walking those trails had seemed pointless if she wasn't there to share it with. So he'd stopped. But as the memories had plagued his mind the last week, it was all he could think of doing. If there was one good thing that had come out of Theo's attack, it was his mother. They may have been awful memories of her, but she was still there- in his memory. And for that he was thankful. He'd almost forgotten her smile, her voice, her laugh, how her hand had felt in his, how it had felt to have her hold him in her arms. And in those precious seconds before he'd been taken back to reality with Lydia's ear splitting scream, he'd gotten to see that again. He'd gotten to say goodbye. And for that, he would always be thankful to Theo.

He still fully believed Theo was a dick, but for once in his life, he had done something that had actually benefited someone else, even if he hadn't realized it. Out of all the hell he'd been through, he'd do it again for that last moment with his mother. But that didn't stop his brain from shifting back to the nightmarish memories that lay just beneath the surface. He didn't want people worrying about him, but what was he supposed to say? Who would understand that living through all of his fear driven memories as if it were happening all over again haunted him? They didn't know how it felt to not only relive those memories one after another, but to remember some that he hadn't even remembered he'd had.

Before he knew it he was there. He'd been so concentrated on distracting himself that he hadn't realized that he'd completed the hours walk that would have simply taken 15 minutes to drive to. The park was the same as he remembered it. Metal slide with a red ladder, turtle sandbox that hadn't yet been opened for the spring, the dome climber, monkey bars, and his personal favorite, the swings. He'd always loved the feeling like he was flying; had always begged his parents for just _one more_ underdog swing before heading home. So Stiles made his way over, and sat down on the middle swing- his childhood favorite.

The playground was empty, sun setting on the horizon as Stiles gently pushed himself back and forth on the swing, feet never leaving the ground. It was here he was able to remember his dream from the hospital. Except it hadn't fully been a dream. He remembered the many times he'd come here with Heather. They'd always competed on who could go highest, who's mom could push them higher to the sky. After Heathers mother had died, Stiles' mother had brought them both there a couple of times so that Heather would remember her own mom with fondness instead of sadness. But not long after her own heath started to become an issue, and Claudia had to stop bringing the kids to the park to play. Stiles and Heather had still been friends, but became distanced as they later went off to different middle schools and high schools. It was times like this when Stiles realized how much he missed her. How much he'd lost.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when the headlights passed over him before the car they were attached to backed up in the middle of the street and swerved into the parking lot of the park. Stiles blinked in surprise and looked around, realizing it had gotten dark. The stars were shining brightly in the sky, and Stiles immediately sought out the big dipper like he always did, before turning his head back to the car. The engine cut and both the driver and passenger doors opened and shut quickly. Footsteps approached quickly and Stiles tried to make out the shadows approaching him. He'd been daydreaming so long he felt slightly out of it, and didn't seem to realize he should be cautious. But in the end, he didn't need to.

"Stiles!" He heard a split second before Lydia ran into his arms, hugging him tightly. He unintentionally let out an "Omf!" sound as she crashed into him.

"Lydia?" He said in surprise, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her back to see a worried look on her face. "What happened? Who died?"

"No one." Scott said from behind her. "Stiles where have you been? Everyone is worried sick."

Stiles looked at him in surprise "Why, did something happen?"

"Dude you disappeared! Your jeep was in the driveway when your dad got home, but you were just- gone. You weren't answering your phone, everyone was worried something happened to you! Everyone's out looking for you; the pack, your dad, my mom, hell even Argent in case someone took you." Stiles took out his phone from his pocket. It was dead.

"Ops." He said, looking up at his friends. "My phone must have died on the walk here. What's with the search party though? I've gone out before, hell I'm with you fighting supernatural creatures every other month." He said sarcastically.

"Stiles, you clearly weren't with Scott- he got to your house right after your dad did. You can't just disappear like that. Not so soon after-"

"After what? Theo? Guys I've been in dangerous situations before, it's not something new. I'm fine, I just took a walk."

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Lydia scolded as Scott took out his phone and started texting what Stiles assumed was everyone looking for him.

"I've been 'resting' for a week and a half. I just needed to get out. I needed to stop thinking for a while."

"What do you mean? What did you need to stop thinking about?" Scott asked, coming back over to the swing set.

Stiles looked him square in the eyes. "You know what I needed to stop thinking about Scott. Did you think all of that just went away because none of us brought it up? Can you even imagine what it's like to relive every bad day all at once, one after another?"

Scott paused before making his way over to the swing next to him. Lydia sat on his other side, rocking herself on the swing as she avoided looking at Stiles.

"How much did you see?" He asked simply, looking over at Scott. Scott cleared his throat, uncomfortable- but he wasn't going to lie to Stiles.

"We got there when your mom attacked you on the hospital roof. You looked about ten. Her dementia made her think you were trying to-"

"Kill her. I remember." Stiles said quietly. So they hadn't seen everything; but they'd seen enough.

"Stiles… I'm so sorry." Scott said, looking at Stiles with guilt on his face.

"For what? She couldn't help it. It wasn't her fault- she was sick." He said, automatically growing defensive of his mother.

"No- not for that, I know she was sick. I mean for everything you've been through. I didn't know about most of that stuff that happened. Not really. I mean I didn't know how bad your mom got, or how many times the nogitsune haunted you in sleep and while you were awake. And I'm sorry I didn't know how much you get in the crossfires of our battles. How much you get hurt- how many times you've almost died because of me. And how many times I didn't know, or didn't care to ask. I'm sorry you had to deal with so much on your own, and I'm sorry I haven't been there nearly as much as I should have."

Stiles was quiet for a minute. He never wanted Scotts pity, and he certainly hated that Scott knew so much more personal things about his life. He hated that he'd seen Stiles so weak and helpless, and not just once, but over and over again. But none of it was Scotts fault.

"Scott none of that is on you. Shitty things happen, and with the town we live in, there's bound to be danger. We've all been there."

"Yeah, but Stiles- everything you went through alone: The nogitsune basically torturing you and threatening Malia, the chemist almost shooting you point blank in the head, your night terrors, getting electrocuted by Kira, getting kidnapped by Peter, Gerard, and Theo, crashing the jeep, finding Heathers body, the list goes on. Stiles you went through all of that alone, and didn't even tell me more than the basics. But all of that has had a major effect on you. You can't just brush it off like it doesn't matter, and you can't tell us you're fine. Stiles you have to let us in- you have to let me be there for you man."

"Scott none of that mattered. There were bigger things going on at the time. You had bigger things to worry about." Stiles said, looking almost confused on why it was such a big deal.

"That doesn't mean what you go through is any less important." Scott said defiantly.

"Stiles, we saw what happened in the ambulance with Cora, and the guidance counselors office with Miss Morrell." Lydia said. "You felt like you were drowning, and none of us knew. How many times has that happened?" Stiles shrugged nonchalantly.

"So much for confidentiality." He muttered.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Stiles you need to let us know what's going on with you. Stop acting like it's not important, or that you're fine. Talk to us- that's what friends do okay? That's what we're there for. If you keep hiding everything, or keeping it to yourself, you're not helping anyone. Please, just- just talk to us." Stiles was quiet for a while before he nodded.

The three of them sat on the swings for a long time after that, talking about what they'd seen, and letting Stiles tell his side of the story. All of it. He did keep some things to himself though. He didn't tell them about the dreams he'd had in the hospital, or the last words his mother whispered in his ear. Those were just for him, and they were private. A last goodbye from his mother. One last I love you as she whispered his true name in his ear. She'd always been the only person he'd allowed to call him that. Most people didn't even know his real name- he didn't even think Scott did. It belonged in the past with his mother's memory. And he would keep it that way.

The three of them sat there for hours, finally combing through everything they'd seen in Stiles mind, and letting him talk about whatever he wanted. When they'd finally gotten everything out in the open, all three went quiet and they just sat there, looking at the stars above as they swung on the swings like children. After a while of quiet, Stiles unknowingly began to hum. Scott immediately recognized it as the tune his mother sang to him multiple times in the memories he'd seen.

"What is that?" Scott asked curiously.

Stiles stopped, realizing with embarrassment that he'd been humming again. The song had been stuck in his head since he'd woken in the hospital. He'd often found himself humming it over the last week whenever he was alone. Unknown by even him, his father had come home early one day to check on him and heard him humming the tune. The sheriff had sat down outside of his sons door quietly and just listened. He hadn't heard that tune in a long time, and he let the memory of his wife wash over him.

"It's nothing. Just something my mom used to sing to me. I didn't even realize I was humming." He said as his cheeks flamed.

"I know I heard her- what song is it?"

Stiles cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It's from that kids movie Dumbo, when the elephant was rocking Dumbo from inside her prison. It was my mom's favorite movie. We used to watch it together."

"I knew I recognized it!" Lydia exclaimed. They lapsed back into silence, until finally, Scott cleared his throat.

"We should probably get you back. I told everyone we found you and would bring you back soon, but your dad is probably still waiting for you."

Stiles nodded, and stood up from the swing. Lydia walked over to him and grabbed his hand as they walked to her car. It was her way of saying how much he meant to her. How much she cared for him, and how much she was glad that he was okay. He squeezed her hand before letting go as they got into the car. Scott drove, and both Stiles and Lydia sat in the back seat. By the time they pulled up to the Stilinski house 15 minutes later, both of them were asleep. Lydias head rested on Stiles shoulder, and his head lay on top of hers. Scott smiled as he saw their hands clasped together on the seat and took a deep breath. His brother was okay. He'd be fine. They all would.

...

 **A/N Hey Guys. Hope you liked my story, it was a lot of fun to write! Actually kinda sad it's over :( I'm debating writing a bonus chapter on what exactly the three talked about on the swing set from Stiles mind but I'm not sure if I'll write it yet or not. Otherwise, this isn't the last of me. As an aspiring writer, I'll continue to write and post fanfictions of other varieties including teen wolf, as well as anything else that comes to mind regarding t.v shows like Supernatural, the Librarians, Miraculous Ladybug, Gravity Falls, Izombie, Daredevil, and the list goes on (I may be a t.v./movie/book junkie...) But you'll definitely see more of me. Thanks for sticking with me and reading my work. I truly hope you enjoyed it.**


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